


The Viper

by RenegadeGenius



Category: Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: Future AU, Moriarty - Freeform, The LEP, artemis fowl - Freeform, artemis fowl oc, criminal myles, genius myles, holly gets kidnapped again, holly short - Freeform, juliet butler - Freeform, older becket, older myles, rene mardling oc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 22:24:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenegadeGenius/pseuds/RenegadeGenius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set 12 years after the great crash (aka the last guardian), in a world where a new genius rules the criminal underworld, the story follows the tale of a teenage Rene Mardling and her struggle against the LEP. Can she do what Artemis accomplished all those years ago? Can she make it out alive?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

My fingers tapped loudly against the key-board. Today hadn’t gone well. It felt like I’d already dug my own grave and was balancing precariously on the edge, just waiting to fall in. None of my training could have prepared me for this.  
I had to come up with a plan to get out of this mess. There had to be a way. My exhausted brain kicked into overdrive. I stopped drumming my fingers and pressed them to my temples instead. But it was useless. I was as good as dead.

I almost jumped out of my skin as my phone alarm went off.

It was time…

 

(One week earlier- A small café in Dublin city centre)

I drummed my fingers loudly on the edge of the table. He was late. Behind me Saskia shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She was just as weary as I.  
Checking my watch, I sighed. “Quarter of an hour longer then we’ll leave.” I couldn’t see behind me but I knew she would be nodding. “I really do hope we haven’t been stood up.”  
“I doubt they’d have the nerve to leave you standing ma’am.”  
I smiled. Of course not- they knew who I was and I knew who they were. This could have disastrous consequences for them if they didn’t send their man. They knew what I was capable of.

Across the room, the door opened. A man stepped inside; His eyes scanned the room before they settled on us.  
“Told you.” Saskia murmured smugly as he approached.  
He hovered nervously over the chair opposite me. I could see fear in his eyes as I caught his gaze. His skin trembled and beads of sweat shimmered on his forehead.  
The suit he wore was of a good quality, most likely tailor made. His hair was freshly cut, but it hadn’t been dyed for a while. Traces of grey were starting to come through at the roots. This man was used to keeping a respectable image- a high status. I could just make out a silk handkerchief sticking out of his trouser pocket, it was clean but it had been well used in the past- proving he it was special to him, Lucky even? Judging from the four leaf clover embroidery, I guessed the latter.  
This was the man we were expecting. Wealthy, respectable and superstitious; typical for someone who was high up in the criminal underworld.  
I gave him a welcoming smile and motioned for him to sit. He sat down silently, carefully assessing the situation.

“You’re late,” I said, my smile thinning, “I do not expect tardiness or tolerate it.”  
A wave of panic spread across his face, he glanced up at Saskia and gulped audibly. “My apologies, I was held up, traffic was bad this morning.” He paused to look around the room, “I also had to attend to another matter.”  
I raised an eyebrow. He really was starting to get on my nerves now. “Well,” I whispered softly, leaning across the table slightly, “you could always tell your boss that this… other… matter held you up long enough for me to misplace all patience I had for him.”  
He jumped in his seat. I could see how terrified he was of reporting failure to his superior. For him it would mean curtain death. “Please,” he murmured, “I have the money.”  
He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a thick envelope. Sliding it across the table he quickly withdrew his arm.  
I nodded before picking up a briefcase from down the side of my chair. “Everything your boss ordered is here.” I told him, “He will not be disappointed.”  
The man took the case and waited until I had counted out the money before leaving.

“That went well.” Saskia laughed as I got up.  
I smiled, “It did, didn’t it.”  
As we left I gave the waitress her usual tip. She took it from me then hurried back to the kitchen, her expression was relaxed, but I could tell she was stressed by the way she walked, by the way she held her shoulders. She didn’t like us at all.

The crisp evening air was refreshing after being inside for so long. I loved to be outside, in the open. Inside details were much closer; they could distract the mind easier. But out here you had space to move- to think. 

From inside my pocket, my phone bleeped. I glanced quickly at the screen before picking up.  
“Hello.” I answered curtly.  
“Well now, how did your meeting go?” Was the smooth reply from the other end.  
I smirked, “Why am I not surprised you know about that?”  
“I think everyone closely connected to Travis, knew he had business with the Viper. I just had to do a little digging to find out when.”  
Checking my watch I looked round, I had another meeting to attend. “So M, what do you want?”  
A wiry chuckle passed through the speakers. “Oh, nothing, I just wanted to know how my favourite contact got on with her meeting. Is that a crime?”  
“No, but everything else you do is.” I snapped as I stepped down of the curb and crossed the road, Saskia by my side.  
There was another chuckle, “I’ll talk to you later then Rene. I know you’ve got that second meeting with Demetrio.”  
“Goodbye.” I said ending the call.

I could feel Saskia's eyes on my side as we entered the small Italian restaurant. She didn’t peak until I was sat down at a table in the far corner. “I wish you wouldn’t speak to him the way you do.” She said at last.  
“I know what I’m doing.”  
She shook her head, “I don’t doubt that. I just don’t want you to risk getting the text.”  
Shaking my head I looked back at her. She stood with her arms folded behind me. “I think I can handle whatever comes my way.” I reassured her quietly, but even as I said the words, it sounded like I was trying to convince myself…

M was short for Moriarty. Moriarty's family had been in the crime business for centuries, and M hadn’t been one to break tradition. He was arguably the most feared mastermind in the criminal underworld.  
But he didn’t operate like most others. Instead of hiring an army of men, he used contacts; other criminals who could help him achieve his goals. And when he was finished with them, he would simply send them a text. The only problem was what this text consisted of…  
It was a riddle.  
Two days after the riddle is sent the receiver goes missing. The answer to the riddle is supposedly the key to surviving, but if anyone’s figured it out, they hadn’t gone public with the knowledge. The average time span to be one of Moriarty's contacts is about a year, but I had been with him for three.  
Saskia was always on constant red alert. She thought that he was playing with me, and that would have been a logical train of thought if I hadn’t of know him better. The simple fact was that he had a soft spot for me and always had…

I looked up just in time to see my second appointment of the day weaving his way through the tables towards us. He studied the paid of us with open speculation as he approached- his eyes darting from me to Saskia and then back again.  
When Demetrio finally stood before us he stopped and looked down at me across the table. “So you’re the Viper?” he asked, his voice filled with evident disbelief.  
I cast my eyes over him quickly.

He wore a tailored suit like Travis’s boy- only this one looked of better quality; it had a flashy designer label too (literally). His jet, black hair was greasy and the skin around his eyes was wrinkled with age. A gold watch sat just above his right wrist, forcing the assumption that he was either ambidextrous or left handed- it would have been more damaged if he was right handed.  
There was also a small patch of shaving foam behind his left ear, coupled with the lack of wedding band, but the presence of tan lines on third finger, this proved that he was either a widower or had recently left his wife. If the shaving cream was still there, than there was no one to point it out to him at home, and I very much doubted that one of his men would take it upon themselves point out the problem. 

“I am the Viper.” I answered slowly, calmly, giving him time to take his conclusions further.  
Demetrio shifted his weight and folded his arms across his chest, “I haven’t come here to be messed around by some kid. I was told I’d be meeting with the Viper not some 13 year old brat. If you are the Viper, prove it.” he ordered roughly.  
I sat there for a few seconds returning his gaze. He seemed to lose a bit of his confidence after a moment as he realised what he might have just done.  
A smile played at the corners of my lips as I asked him four words. “How was your holiday?”  
His face fell and he was visibly shaken. All residual confidence was whipped from him as his arms fell to his sides. He really did look dumb struck.  
“How did you know about that?” his voice sounded a little hollow. I could almost hear Saskia rolling her eyes behind me. She’d heard that line too many times.

The smile broke free from the edges of my lips, my eyes flared dangerously and I flashed him my pearly white teeth. I didn’t usually smile like that, but when I did, people noticed. The only word I can use to describe my smile at this point is sinister, maybe evil at a stretch. It was the only time I ever showed my true, criminal potential.  
I began in my quiet, ominous voice that could force shivers down the most respectable of men’s spines. “How do I know?” I asked him, “Well, let’s start with your tan lines. Your hands are practically burnt but it stops at your wrists, telling me that you’ve been in the sun for some time- unless you make a habit of wearing a suit on a sun bed- which I very much doubt. And as the weather around here had been less than favourable the past few weeks, it would only seem possible that you have visited another, slightly warmer country, most likely on a business trip. A trip to Egypt- judging by the note that fell out of your pocket when you folded your arms in a bid to intimidate me. Which, might I add, didn’t work.”

He blinked at me for a second before nodding and retrieving his money from the floor. “I must apologise. I’d heard rumours you were in your teens but I didn’t expect you to be so young.” He admitted a little shame-faced.  
“Not many do. But for your information, I am in fact 15 and not a 13 year old brat.” I told him calmly, returning to the way I had been before he insulted me. “Now,” I said leaning forward in my chair, “Let’s talk…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rene meets with Demetrio to discuss a job...

Demetrio sat down in the chair opposite me, before pulling a scruffy, brown envelope out of his pocket. He placed it in the centre of the table and glanced at me meaningfully. I saw a hint of fear creeping into his expression as he looked at me again. Not fear of me though- fear of what he’d just put down.  
Taking the tattered envelope, I carefully removed its contents and set it before me.

Three photographs were laid out on the table in front of me. Each was a different colour blur. I sighed, that was disappointing.

I looked up at him and raised one eyebrow. “And what do you want me to do with these?”  
“These were taken a few months ago in England,” He said quietly, pointing to the photos. I noticed his eyes glanced nervously about the room, as if he expected someone to jump out from behind a pillar. “The three men who took those went missing. I’ve had word since that they were spotted in Africa, their memories totally erased.”  
Ok, it had just got interesting. I picked up the middle photo and studied it. This one was just a block of brown with dashes of red. It was severely movement blurred and, judging by the amount of noise, taken with a low grade digital camera, possibly a phone. The others were of a similar quality.  
“I’ll ask you again.” I murmured still looking at the middle picture, “What do you want me to do with these?” He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Well?”

“I heard you were the best. That you could make anything… that you could find anything.” He said in all but a whisper, his head sinking into his hands. “I want you to find out what happened. I need you to find the people responsible for this and bring them down… hard.”  
I nodded. He was asking for help eliminating an enemy. But there was something else, something he wasn’t telling me. “What else happened?” I asked, curious as to what could force a hardened crime-lord into such a state.  
Demetrio looked up, his eyes weren’t just filled with fear now- it was terror. “Everyone else who saw the three men before they went missing has since lost all memory of them. I am the last. I know there is something going on here but I have neither the technology nor the skills to find out. You are my only hope.”  
“So you’re asking me to look into these disappearances and find the people responsible for the memory loss. Saving your memories and uncovering something that someone is trying very hard to keep hidden.” I summarised.  
He simply nodded.  
“Well then,” I replied in a voice that was lower than usual, “One more question… What exactly are these photos of?”  
He opened his mouth to speak but suddenly a loud noise interrupted us.

It was my phone.

Pulling it from my pocket I checked the screen. M. Sighing I looked back up at Demetrio, he nodded so I dragged my finger across the screen to answer the call.  
“What?” I hissed down the line.  
His usual chuckle followed, “Well now, who’s in a bad mood today?”  
“I’m in the middle of that meeting with Demetrio.”  
There was a short pause, “Leave now. Don’t take the job and go home.”  
I almost chocked. “I’m sorry can you repeat that last part?”  
“You heard me.”  
“Why?” (I didn’t mean ‘Why did I hear you?” I meant ‘Why should I listen to you?’)

“I know who’s responsible for his problem,” He stopped for a moment to let be absorb this information, “and believe it or not, I wouldn’t even think of crossing them.”  
Ok, that WAS a shock. Nobody who’d ever crossed Moriarty had gotten away with it. Was he telling me that there were bigger criminals out there? Even so, there was no way I was going to let him tell me what to do. I was just as well-known as Moriarty and almost as feared.   
I told myself once more that I could handle whatever came my way.   
“Sorry M but I’ve got a meeting to continue. I’ll talk to you later.” I announced to him as I started to pull the phone away from my ear.  
Just before I disconnected the call, I heard him sigh deeply, “The blood’s on your hands if anything goes wrong.”

What did he mean when he said the blood was on my hands? Who’s blood? I stared at the phone for a few seconds before regaining my composure. Everything was going to be fine.  
Turning back Demetrio I smiled, “What were you saying?”  
He eyed me warily before continuing. He knew I was one Moriarty's contacts, everyone did, but nobody ever spoke to him the way I did. I was the one person who could talk back to M and live to tell the tale.  
“The pictures,” he’d obviously gained a bit of his confidence back, because the tremor in is voice had all but disappeared, “The pictures were taken in a forest in the South-East of England. My men never did tell me what they were of, but someone did hear them say something about monsters. Personally I think that was just hysteria.” A thin smile showed on his lips before it was gone again.  
I picked up the middle picture once more. There was something about it that seemed interesting.  
The red almost looked like…

I shook my head. It was very unlikely. 

“I’ll take a look into your problem. But of course there is still your present situation… I may not be able to close the case before your adversary makes their final move. How do I know that you’ll still remember our meeting in a week’s time? I will need at least part of my fee, before I so much as dip a toe into this mystery.”  
Across the table Demetrio nodded understandably, “Figured you’d say that.” He reached down for a case he’d brought with him. “In here is £2,000,000. Freshly printed unmarked bills, you could count it out now but it might take a while.” He said handing me the leather case.  
I took it carefully and put it down by my chair.  
“Your case is in good hands.” I assured him confidently.  
He raised an eyebrow, “Don’t you want to check the briefcase for booby-traps?”  
“Booby-traps?” I grinned. Who said that anymore these days? That word had pretty much died out. It was only used by veterans of the underworld. Criminals who were in action before the great crash 12 years ago.  
He smiled back, “Yes, booby-traps. Microphones, tracking devices… bombs…”  
“I know what you mean. But the case is clean and we are both aware of that.”  
“How do you know?” he asked, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion.  
I grinned at him for the second time. My teeth once again appeared between my lips, and form the expression on his face; I guessed he was waiting for fangs to sprout from my gums. It truly was a vampire smile. It was quite amusing to watch the shiver crawl its way down Demetrio’s spine.  
Propping my elbows on the table, I pushed my fingers together to form a pyramid.   
“I have my ways…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting a call Rene decides to meet with a risky new client.

I jumped as my phone began to ring for the third time that day. Only this time it wasn’t M. It was a number I didn’t recognise. 

Only people who I trusted had this number. It was a secure line that connected to my own network- modern networks struggled to provide a reliable service. They ran off of satellites who’s blueprints were at least 20 years old, but the Stone Age technology was state of the art for billions of people.   
My own satellite, on the other hand, really was shiny and new. It was my own design and put together with nothing but my own parts. I’d hand built every element of the transmitter with the help of my assistant Gladice.  
Gladice is a fully interactive AI (Artificial Intelligence). I built her at the age of ten and she’d been running ever since. She ran my entire security system and computer network, her electronic brain perfectly capable of preforming multiple tasks, while still managing to keep her chirpy, sarcastic attitude.  
She was flashing an ‘incoming call’ message across my screen as I looked up. 

Sliding my finger across the screen, I curiously answered the call, “Hello?”  
“I assume I’m speaking with the Viper, am I not?” His Irish accent jumped out at me from the first syllable- even though he was obviously trying to supress it slightly. I also noticed a refined clip to his voice, this person, whoever he was, was properly educated. But his voice… there was something else. He sounded almost… adolescent. Yes that was it; this boy sounded no more than 16 or 17.   
I rolled my eyes dramatically- another budding crime lord just coming into his prime- another man who would quickly learn his place when speaking to me in any form.  
“You are.” I replied sounding very much intrigued. I turned to my computer and quickly started to run a scan on the call. Within seconds I had his name, address, personal history… A smile crept across my face.  
“I have a job for you.” He said curtly after a short pause.  
“I don’t work for anyone, let alone a Fowl.” The seductive purr was probably a bit much, but it gained a sudden intake of breath.  
“Would you mind telling me how exactly you traced this call? I personally made sure this line was secure.” He was oddly composed. Surprising considering who he was talking to.  
“If I told you that… I’m afraid I’d have to kill you.” Chuckling deeply down the line, I smiled. This was always the fun part. My aim was to put some fear into the boy. I didn’t care how old the line was I used. It gave the same effect.

Fowl paused once more. “Very well… I would suggest a meeting then.”  
I tilted my head to the side as Gladice brought up my schedule for the next week. “Tonight,” I announced firmly, giving him no room to manoeuvre, “the Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud at 8pm. I do not expect lateness form my clients, and you will be no exception.”  
“Of course,” He reassured me, “I will be there.”  
I hung up the phone.

Swivelling, so that my back was to the computer, I found Saskia leaning against the door. Her long, blond hair was pulled into a high pony-tail and her cat-like-sea-green eyes were focused intently on the floor at her feet. She was scowling profusely and her hand went up to rub the back of her neck.  
I sighed. She’d been listening to my conversation.  
“I thought the Fowls had stopped criminal activity.”  
Nodding I half smiled, “So did I, but it seems there is more to their family than meets the eye. Maybe there’s still some spark in the old Fowl bloodline after all.”  
“If I remember correctly, it was YOU who said that we weren’t going to have anything to do with that family. They’ve been in more trouble than they’re worth.” Saskia groaned maybe a little too dramatically for what the situation demanded.  
“In the past…” I reminded her gently, “They were more trouble than they were worth in the past. The Fowls haven’t been an active crime family for just under a decade and a half. They were out of the business before I was born. They’re all for ‘green living’ now.”  
“So why ARE they active now?” she asked, clearly afraid of what my answer would be.  
Thinking about it for a second, I shook my head. Saskia studied me expectantly; she wanted an answer that I couldn’t give. “I don’t know…” I sighed deeply and sank back into my chair, “…I really don’t know.”

(8 hours later- The Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud- Dublin)

I smoothed the pleats in my skirt. We’d been here less than ten minutes but already Saskia was starting to shift her weight nervously. She’d been like this ever since we had left the house. Her usual confident persona washed clean by the prospect of meeting an actual Fowl.  
As a Butler, she should have automatically gone into their service when we’d completed our training. But she’d chosen to stay by my side and help me build my own criminal empire. She served as my bodyguard and best friend- not exactly what her parents had wanted, but she favoured the idea of actually knowing her charge. Saskia didn’t like surprises, and she’d known me long enough to anticipate at least some of my moves.   
“Calm down.” I told her quietly. “I doubt this meeting will turn out as bad as you think. I have gone through every possible scenario and, in a large proportion of them, this goes exactly as planned.”  
She laughed, but her pitch was slightly off, “You’re not helping.”

A waiter appeared at our table. He smiled nervously at Saskia, who had regained her protective manner. Gripping the edge of his serving tray, he placed a pot of tea on the table before looking back up at me. “There is someone asking to see you ma’am. He says you’re expecting him?”  
I nodded, “Bring him to us.”  
The waiter scurried away before returning a few minutes later, followed by two teenage boys- each strikingly different from the other.

The first boy was shockingly pale, his thin frame made its way through the tables with all the grace of a two-wheeled tractor. He had a head of jet black hair that was pulled back away from his face, making him look older by a year or two. A dark blue, pin stripped suit hung from his shoulders and a pair of designer loafers clung to his feet. His bright blue eyes scanned the room until he found our table, I could see the calculations being made behind them: the way I looked, the way my hands were placed on the table, the way Saskia was standing behind me, the smile that pulled at the corner of my lips…   
He was like me- a true genius. A shiver tried to claw its way down my spine, but I ordered it under control.

I looked behind him to the second boy. This one was lean and well built, his muscles flexed under his clothes as he walked. He wore a bright yellow long-sleeved T-shirt under a cream shirt, his legs were covered in expertly, faded designer jeans and scuffed brown shoes protected his feet. His eyes were blue, but they were softer than the first boy’s- a spark of amusement played behind his long, thick eyelashes. His hair was a dirty blond, it was messy and a few locks came down to frame his face.  
To everyone else he would have seemed a normal, athletic teenager, but I could just make out the shape of a gun as it affected the waistline of his jeans. I saw how he manoeuvred through the tables with an agility his brother could never hope to master.  
And yes they were brothers: I could see that in the shape of their cheek bones, the set of their jaws. They were as different as chalk and cheese, but they were clearly twins. Both had the Fowl family air about them. They seemed to stand out in the crowded restaurant, even thought they were doing nothing to draw attention.  
I chuckled slightly as they approached.

The first boy paused before our table. He continued studying me for a few seconds before sliding into the chair opposite. “I wasn’t expecting someone…”  
“Young, female…?” I asked raising one eyebrow.  
He smiled, “Intelligent.”  
I smiled back. “Not many people can see it so quickly. I usually have to prove my intellect before I’m recognised by my clients.”  
“Not today as it seems.” he said folding his placing his hand on the table before him, “Now I suggest we get down to business.”  
“Agreed, so what can I do for you? The only reason I agreed to meet with you was because of your families past reputation, it rivals even my own.” I leant forward in my chair.  
“Ah, yes,” He said, brushing off my question, “The Viper, I think everyone in the criminal underworld has heard your name. You produce the most advanced technology this world had ever seen. Your inventions surpass any predictions for this time, even those made twelve years ago.”  
Sighing I looked deep into his eyes, there was something dark there, something I recognised from myself. It was the dark flame that drove me to do the things I did. The boy before me could either grow to become an enemy or a trusted ally, depending on how this meeting went.   
“Twelve years ago was a dark time.” I said simply, even though it was an understatement.

Twelve years ago, the world had been half destroyed by a series of mystery explosions, which had blown every piece of tech, less than 5 years old, to smithereens. It had forced humanity back to the days of pen and paper.  
Sure the DailyMail had had a sudden boom in interest, but the rest of the world had been struggling to get back on its feet. It looked like touch screen would be out of the picture for another ten years (of course, my phone was an exception). And for some reason people couldn’t re-build the tech they built back then. It was almost as if, they’d got the microchips from someone else, and now, they were struggling to admit that they didn’t make them in the first place.  
But that was impossible. Who did they get them from… fairies?

I almost laughed. I’d make a joke. 

Fairies wouldn’t have trade that freely with humans…


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of Rene's meeting with Myles...

Pouring two cups of tea, I once again leant back into my chair. “So tell me Myles, why have you requested an audience with me today?”  
“I have it in mind to re-start my family’s business, but I also know that in order to do so I will need both money and respectable contacts. When I heard there was another child genius on the other side of the law, it was just too much of an opportunity to pass up. I am rather fond of knowing my competition.” He admitted taking a sip of his tea.  
I looked at the boy behind him again. Becket- his brother- seemed utterly bored. He slouched heavily on one leg and had both hands in his pockets. He wasn’t even paying attention to the conversation. This teen didn’t want to be here. He’d most likely been dragged along by his brother to offer some sort of protection, but why not bring a Butler? The Fowls were currently employing two, one was a little past his sell-by date, but the other was in her prime. So why wasn’t she here?  
Unless…

“Your parents don’t actual know you’re here, do they?”  
He slowly put his cup down and folded his hands in his lap, “They do not.”  
“Does your brother Artemis know? Or have you kept it a secret from him as well?” I asked carefully, not meaning to make him angry or annoyed. The Fowls may not be active, but they still had strings.  
“Artemis would be… disappointed if he knew. In his younger years, he was almost as notorious as our father, but now he’s…”  
“Gone soft.” I finished for him.  
Myles nodded.  
The boy before me was a budding criminal who wanted to regain some of his family’s honour. That is, without actually alerting his family of what he was doing. Any word of a Fowl back in the business would quickly reach his father’s ear and, as he was the genius out of the two, he would automatically be red-flagged. He was trapped in a corner, but there were ways out of it you looked from a different angle.  
“I assume you will be using an alter-ego. That way your activities will not be traced back.” I smiled coldly, “It’s worked for me so far.”  
“Yes,” he nodded, “I was pondering the name Coeus, it’s simple and would fit my needs.”  
My smile warmed slightly, “The Titan of intelligence. It would seem fitting, seeing that your brother is named after the Greek goddess of the hunt.”  
This time, Myles smiled back, “Indeed.” Behind him, Becket cleared his throat. “Ah, yes,” he continued, “I believe we should get back to why I am here.”  
Nodding I agreed. My time was valuable and I had other things to be doing- mainly pondering Demetrio’s problem… 

“You would not have requested this meeting if you didn’t need something, and I doubt very much that you are simply in the mood for a friendly chat.” Giving him another glance, I tried to see as much as I could in that split second.  
“My family,” he began, “has always been wealthy. But recently, it seems our power had dwindled, no doubt a result of our ‘turning over a new leaf’, as my father would put it. I have a list of the things I will need to complete my first, official, criminal act. I would like for you to have a look at it and see if you can supply the items.” He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. I opened it and scanned the text before re-folding it and slipping the list into my own pocket. Myles's face remained calm and contained as a frown crossed my brow. 

“Can you not help me?” he asked tensely, looking almost disappointed.  
Shaking my head, I looked at him wearily. “I can supply them.”  
“Then whatever is the matter?”  
“I am disappointed, I‘d expected something more challenging from a Fowl. The list you have given me is basic at best. It wouldn’t take me five seconds to put together your order. You have asked for nothing more than children’s toys!” I sighed heavily. “Maybe I could do you a deal.”  
He sat forward, “What kind of deal?”

“As this is your big debut, I would be willing to work with you in coming up with a less…”  
“…Amateur plan?” He asked raising one eyebrow.  
I nodded. “You are lucky that I’m a in a good mood Fowl.”  
“What exactly are you suggesting?” He massaged his temples slowly as he tried to decipher my cryptic comments.  
I broke into my sinister grin.   
Becket gasped. The look of recognition was clear his face. He’d no doubt seen his brother pull a similar smile. I knew Saskia would be rolling her eyes again; she always did it when I was showing off. She had always thought that it was a little too comic book villain, but I really didn’t care. It was the real me, and I liked it.

Myles on the other hand didn’t react so obviously, his expression didn’t chance but I could see his face light up with curiosity. I began in a low voice, making sure that no one else in the restaurant could hear, “I happen to know the location of a particular painting- one that would gain you immediate respect among the criminal underworld.” His, all of a sudden eager, eyes told me to continue, “12 years ago, security systems went down across the world, opportunistic criminals removed it from the museum and it’s been circulation ever since. This painting marks a true criminal as it is quite often guarded by the most advanced security system available at the time. I know where it is currently being held. And, for a price, I will supply you with the location and the technology to get in and out with ease… What do you say?”  
“Just out of interest, what’s the name of the painting?” he queried as though he’d already made up his mind.  
“The Fairy Thief,” I announced to him, “Your brother stole it when he was younger than yourself, and ended up handing it over to the authorities. That just before his first… term of absence if I remember correctly. It was during that time that you were born.”  
He nodded. “And I expect you will help spread the word as to what I have done afterwards.”

“Coeus will be a household name in the dark side- I can assure you of that. I could even get M to lend a hand.”   
Myles’s face dropped, “M?”  
“Moriarty,” I confirmed, “He’s a friend of mine.”  
He frowned, “Are you sure you can trust him?”  
“Pretty sure…” I leant forward too, “If you don’t want publicity after all than we can always keep this private.”  
Shaking his head he sighed, “Tell who you must. I have merely come to you for help and that is all I expected to get. Anything else that comes out of this is a bonus…”  
“Am I a bonus?” I half whispered to him across the table.  
“We’ll just have to see about that.” He said in a tone that was almost identical to mine, leaning further forward.  
I tilted my head to the side, “Can I trust you to meet me here in two weeks. That will give you time to prepare and time for me to custom build the equipment by hand.”  
“I may be Fowl by name, but I am not fowl by nature. I will meet you here at the same time I will bring a full payment. How much do you require?” I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. On it was a number. He studied it for a brief second before nodding and looking back up at me. “This will be fine. It really has been a pleasure working with you.”  
He stood and I stood too- out of common courtesy, “I can assure you, Myles, that the pleasure had been mine.” I purred at him shaking his hand slowly. A blush rose to his pale cheeks for a brief second before it was gone again.

Saskia watched them go from behind me. When they were out of sight she roughly elbowed me in the back. “You like him.” She laughed.  
I flushed and turned to see her beaming down at me. “I most certainly do not!”   
“Don’t deny it; you were flirting with him big-time.”  
Was I flirting with him? I didn’t have much experience with boys my own age. They were a mystery to me. I never could see the point in them. Sure I could pull off a seductive appearance and lure them into my web, but I’d never actually LIKED any of them. I’d just used them to for-fill a purpose and then sent them packing (by this I mean business purposes).  
On the other hand this was no time to be thinking about boys like a typical teenager my age.  
Turning, I exited the Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud.   
I had other things to be fussing over. 

There were cases to solve, gadgets to build, photos to sharpen…


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After sharpening the photos, an obvious truth becomes clear.

I threw my keys onto the side as I walked in. Home would usually seem like a welcome refuge after three high-priority meetings, but the cold stone walls held no love. My estate wasn’t as big as the Fowl’s but it was still big enough to seem overwhelming.  
Looking up at the ornate staircase directly in front of me I sighed. ‘Home’ was maybe the wrong word for this house- ‘lair’ on the other hand, seemed far more appropriate. The darkened hallways and heavy, Victorian features of the house made the building seem menacing, as if something was always waiting round the corner to jump out and surprise you. My great, great grandparents really did know how to pick’em.  
And yet, even though it wasn’t at all homey, I still felt some affection for the building. I’d been raised there, and that had to count for something.

My control centre was a large concrete room with lead lining and a door that could survive a nuclear blast. Across the right side of the room, a bank of computer screens hummed quietly, bellow that was my desk- cluttered with paper work and pieces of half-finished tech.   
My Father always used to say, “Messy desk clean head.” I smiled at the thought. My desk had only gotten into this state because of a recent surge in activity for The Viper, it seemed everyone and his dog wanted to meet me.  
The left side of the room was composed of a gigantic, steel bulkhead. It was the entrance to my vault and could only be opened by either myself or Saskia (with my permission). There was no lock or main dial, just an eye scanner and key pad for the combination. Also, Gladice guarded the door constantly. She was under strict instructions to never let it open for anyone who was unauthorised.

I sank into my chair and felt exhaustion sap the last of my energy. I closed my eyes and rubbed my aching temples…

My eyes snapped open to find Gladice bleeping at me. She had brought a file onto the screen and had highlighted it in green. “Hey,” she said cheerfully, “I corrected those photos for you. You are not going to believe what I found!”  
I glanced at the clock: 2 am- great. I‘d fallen asleep.  
“Open the file.” I told her, rubbing the last of the sleep from my eyes.  
The highlighted folder expanded and the first photo came into focus. It was a picture of an owl- very pretty, but not anything that could be of any use to me. Whoever the photographer was, they had a good eye though.  
“Next photo…”  
This was the red and brown one I’d picked up in the restaurant. Now that it had been enhanced, it was clearly a picture of someone’s forehead. This person had hazel, brown skin and brilliant, red hair. I took in the details, they might have been crucial in tracking this person down later. The only thing that really made this female (yes, she was female, I could tell that by the shape of her brow) stand out, was a small triangular scar that dented her skin just below her hair line. I absorbed that snippet of information before moving on.  
“And the last one…” I ordered, stifling a yawn.  
There was a pause before Gladice hesitantly said, “…Ok…”

When the last photo flickered on to the screen I could feel the blood draining from my face. This is bad, I thought to myself, very bad. Whipping out my phone I dialled Demetrio’s number, he answered on the third ring.  
“Hello?” he asked, I’d clearly just woken him.  
“Tell me you’ve still got your memories.” I ordered hastily.  
There was a sudden intake of breath, “The Viper? Err, yes, yes I have. I take it you’ve solved my problem?” I could hear the tremor working its way into his voice.  
“I have. But I’m not calling with good news. I called to say that you should drop everything and run. There is nothing you, me or anybody can do to help this situation. Leave all of your clothes, pieces of technology, everything. They will only track you with them. Nowhere is safe. I’m sorry, but there are some forces that not even I can battle.” It was true. I couldn’t do anything for him, apart from perhaps pray, but that wouldn’t have been any good either.  
I hung up the phone before he could respond and went back to staring at the picture before me.

The photo was of a tree, a single tree. But it was what was on the tree that made my blood run cold…

They were symbols… Familiar symbols… Symbols I recognised from my childhood.

I remembered going out into the woods, which surrounded the manor, and balancing on the roots of our ancient oak tree. The moon was full and I could hear the gentle gurgling of water from the nearby river. A soft summer breeze played with the ends of my hair and the air seemed electrified.  
Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw something glint. Turning I’d found a small novel, the size of a match box, attached to a snapped, silver chain. It was the chain which had reflected the light and drawn my attention.  
On each page was a swirling pattern of intricate symbols. They seemed to start at the centre of the page and spiral out from there.  
As with most languages, this one had clicked into my head the second I looked at it. I quickly skimmed through the wafer thin pages with an intense curiosity. I’d never seen any dialect like it before. It was like Egyptian hieroglyphs, but seemed older somehow.

Of course it was the content which fascinated me the most. The Book (for that was its actual name) spoke of fairies and other magical creatures. It was a rule book of how they should live their lives. At first I’d thought it was a hoax, but then I took the time to properly asses the paper, the ink, the purity of the metal chain… and I’d quickly found, that the volume in my hands was in fact genuine.  
My parents didn’t believe me of course. They thought it was all childish games, something I’d made up to amuse myself.   
After that I never showed it to anyone. Only Gladice and myself now knew that it existed. Some of her original coding was even written in this strange fairy tongue- Gnommish as The Book called it.

Coming back to the present time I took one last look at the photo before opening a Woogle tab (originally called Google, but it was ‘got up and running’ again by a man called West, so it was re-named in his honour).   
It was about time I got in touch with these fairies and I knew just the way to do it.

Of course I’d been in the LEP’s (that’s Lower Element Police for those of you who aren’t aware) system for years. This was another reason why I didn’t want to get involved with the Fowls. They had a history with The People- what the fairies call themselves- and I didn’t want that rubbing off on me.  
The main LEP system was run by a paranoid, centaur named Foaly. He was in charge of keeping their operations and weapons operational, while still inventing technology for them to use. This guy was constantly on red alert for humans trying to hack into his hard drives, too bad he didn’t notice when someone actually did- someone who could read both Gnommish AND Centaurian, meaning that I could read even his most precious documents.   
I wondered for a second what his face would be like when he saw what I was about to write into the search bar. And of course, he would see it for he monitored all searches made on human computers.

So strong was my curiosity that I opened up a direct link to the control booth’s security camera in The LEP police plaza, before typing the specially chosen words into the search bar. I pressed enter on my old fashion, QWERTY style keyboard and watched the magic unfold…

I almost laughed for the second time that day. I’d made another joke. Making a personal note, I promised myself that I would stop with the comedy before it got out of hand. I was supposed to be a criminal mastermind for goodness sake!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The LEP get the message.

(LEP Police plaza- control booth)

Foaly had been talking to Caballine via a video link when a red warning light flashed across his screen. He quickly made his excuses before acknowledging the alert. It seemed that a human had typed a few too many key-words in on Woogle. The centaur chuckled. Woogle, what a stupid name…

He opened the message and scanned the list of words. With each one, his face paled a little more. He could almost feel the red alert pressing down on him. He knew that there were only two ways this could have happened, 1: A fairy had developed a twisted sense of humour and felt the urge to send the LEP on a wild goose chase, or, 2: A human was actually looking up these words in a search engine. Either one was bound to end in a considerable amount of paper work and a late night.   
There was something odd about the list that Foaly quickly picked up on after only a few glances. It might have been just his paranoia, but he swore the words were pointed directly at him. Not just that though. They were mocking him…  
Centaur  
Fairy  
Fluent  
Unicorn  
Gnommish  
Centaurian  
LEP  
Donkey   
Boy  
Haven  
City  
Love   
The   
Viper

Trying to keep his nerves under control, he quickly patched himself through to Commander Kelp.

Commander Trouble Kelp had recently been moved into Root’s old office. Even after all these years it still stank of cigar smoke and, as a result, Kelp had quickly picked up the habit- much to the distress of his fellow LEP co-workers.  
As the video link was established, Kelp stubbed out a half-smoked, fungus cigar in a crystal ashtray. A cloud of green smoke obscured the elve’s features for a second before clearing. “What is it Foaly?”  
“We’ve got a massive key works hit on mud-man search engine.” There was no time for horsing around today. If he was right, it was an emergency situation.  
The Commander sighed, “Have we got a lock on its location?”  
“That’s the thing,” Foaly said feeling his throat tighten, “we do. But that’s all we’ve got. It’s almost as if this person is blocking all other data and just giving us the address. If you ask me, I think they want to be found. And no good ever comes from that…” a rush of memories flooded through him. He remembered the first time they’d experienced Artemis Fowl. He’d wanted to be found, and The People had ended up out of pocket.   
Of Course, Artemis had become a trusted ally over the years, but another young Fowl could be disastrous.   
“Read the list of words.” ordered Kelp, beginning to feel the weight of another life and death situation hanging over his head.

As commanded the centaur read the list aloud so that he could hear them.  
“‘Love The Viper?’ That sounds like a name, or at least an alias. Look into it and tell me what you find.”  
Foaly didn’t have to look it up. His computer was already doing it for him. “I’ve got it.” he said skimming the data that had just been pushed under his nose. Even through the video link Trouble Kelp could see the technical Wizard’s face turn from a roughly normal colour, to ghostly white and then take on a greenish hue.  
“What is it?” he asked, almost not wanting to hear what the centaur had to say.

There was a short pause before Foaly could speak. “The viper,” he read directly from the sheet, “technical mastermind- the most feared in the criminal underworld, female, age unknown, IQ unknown but estimated higher than your average mud-girl… Danger level to The People, is estimated at an extreme high.”  
“Right,” Said Kelp, sitting up in his chair, “We’ll send an officer to investigate and see what the situation is. If it’s critical, I want this human’s mind wiped cleaner than a stink worm’s backside, do you hear me?” the Commander’s face had taken on a reddish tint- another thing that made him seem amazingly like his predecessor, Julius Root.

“Which officer?” Foaly asked already knowing the answer.

“Who do you think…?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wait begins.

(2:30 am, Mardling Manor)

I chuckled deeply…   
An extreme high? These people really didn’t know who they were dealing with. I wasn’t your average mud-girl. Not by far.  
Looking down I watched a single spark dance its way across my fingertips. It sank back under my skin after a second or two but I still couldn’t help smiling. This was one of the many things that made me different. My magic. Without it I could have been just another evil mastermind. Without my gift of tongues, I would have had to learn the languages I know now. Without my healing power, I would be dead.

After the devastation of the ‘Great Techno Crash’, humans had turned back to nature. We were still using some fossil fuels, but not as much by far- and that level was still falling. Sooner rather than later we would be completely free of our old ways and looking forward to a clean future. The planet would sort its self out and everything would be ok.  
A result of this was that a few humans had developed the ability to use magic. These ‘human warlocks’ were rounded up and had their magic capped by the LEP. If you went public with your powers, it was guaranteed that you’d wake up a few days later with your memory wiped clean.  
I’d been more than secretive about my abilities. Only Saskia, Gladice and one other person knew. It was better that way. My secret was safe.

“Err… ma’am?” 

I looked up at the screen again. Gladice had minimised the LEP tab and her holographic face hovered above me. She had short, thick red hair that was constantly messy, and soft, sapphire blue eyes.   
I hadn’t designed her look; I’d left that up to her. Gladice had chosen the appearance she thought would be most fitting for her personality.  
“What is it?” I asked, noting the concern in her expression.  
She bit her lip nervously, “Well… I thought that seeing as this is going to get messy, it would be the perfect time to try out the, the um… the contacts?”   
I thought it over. ‘The contacts’ were a project I’d been working on for about a year and a half. 

Two gel lenses held a Nano-chip and a maze of Nano-wires. The chips were more powerful than LEP supercomputers, and could break into any system in a matter of milliseconds. The display across them was thought governed by another chip implanted deep in my cerebral cortex- so whatever I thought about would come up in front of my eyes instantaneously.  
The lenses also recorded both images and sounds, like the LEP’s iris cams, but far more advanced. They filmed in all six frequencies simultaneously: thermal imaging, infrared, night vision, HD, X-ray and VD (vibration detecting).  
The future for sure- but was it too soon?  
I’d held back on testing them because they were semi-permanent. Once in, the only way to remove them was to use eye drops that would cause the gel to break down. If I decided to try them out, there was no going back.   
I would have given just about anything for another month of fine tuning- if only to boost my confidence…  
“Fine,” I sighed getting out of my chair and making my way over to the vault, “might as well jump in at the deep end.”  
Gladice let out a small laugh, “By deep end you mean more like the marinara trench right?”  
Smiling slightly I nodded. “Yes, something like that.” 

Ten minutes later I sat back at my desk with an aluminium case open in front of me. The contents- a pair of pipettes and a small cleansing wipe- glinted in the light cast by the monitors. I picked up the first pipette and examined the gel inside for a second. It shimmered, but the parts inside were too small to be seen with the naked eye.   
“Here goes nothing.” I murmured and squeezed the clear liquid into my open eye. Quickly as possible I did the same with the other one.  
Blinking through the blur, I resisted the urge to rub my eyes. “Gladice, activate the chips.”

It took a second but eventually my sight cleared, the gel forming a layer no thicker than a grain of sand across my eyeball. There was another pause before the display flickered to life.  
Information scrolled down the sides and across the top, time and date was clearly displayed in bright blue. I already had the chip in my head (I’d had that installed a few months back) so controlling them was no issue at all. They obeyed my thought commands and brought up a screen of initial diagnostics.

I blinked twice to shut down the display. My vision returned to normal. “Everything looks good. I’m going to try and catch a few hours’ sleep before the action begins. Wake me if anything happens.”  
“Will do,” Gladice chirped happily, “you’ve got a busy day tomorrow...”

(8:06 am)

Opening my eyes I sat up in bed. A ray of bright sunshine came flooding though a gap in the curtains. I watched the dust motes swirl delicately thought the air for a few seconds before pushing back the covers and jumping out of bed.  
I slipped into my pleated skirt and a plain blouse, and then made my way thought to the kitchen. The smell of freshly made toast and jam drifted out to great me as I pushed open the door.

The kitchen was one of the brightest rooms in the house. It was one of the only areas that actually felt ‘homey’. The walls were pained a bright lemon yellow and grey, slate tiles covered the floor. Two large bay windows took up an entire wall, and an oak dining table took filled a large proportion of the centre of the room.  
Saskia stood over the breakfast bar and Charlie (my Papillion) sat in his usual chair at the table. Charlie looked up when he saw me come in and barked a greeting before returning to his bowl of, what looked to be, bacon and gravy.  
Saskia didn’t acknowledge me at first; she was too busy buttering toast before it went cold, but did eventually see me and raised a hand. I noticed stress lines under her eyes; it looked like she hadn’t slept in a week. Her usually bronze skin looked pale and her energy seemed to have been sapped.   
A girl like Saskia couldn’t be run down easily, so something must have happened- something bad.

She saw me looking and lent back against the breakfast bar. “What?” she asked politely.  
“You look rough. What happened?”  
Her face fell a little. “My aunt, Sinem, died in combat two days ago. We weren’t close, but they still want me at the funeral.”  
“You’re going?”  
She shook her head, “We’re too busy here. Maybe I’ll just send flowers.”  
“I think you should go.” I said to Saskia calmly, thinking of the advantages and disadvantages of her absence. “I’m not going to be meeting anyone for a week or so, and plus, it would mean the world to your family if you attended the service.”  
“They’ll understand if I tell them I can’t go because my principle.”  
It was my turn to shake my head. “I’m not really your principle. I’ve gone thought the same training as you and have the tattoo to prove it. You are only really here because I am your friend and you worry that something will happen to me on one of my ‘suicide’ missions, as you put it.” she pushed her lips defiantly so I continued, “You’d only be gone a few days, nothing bad could possibly happen to me in that time.”  
Saskia doubled over with laughter, “The incident with the Russian mafia only took a few MINUTES to ‘go bad’. I left you alone then, and you were almost killed. If it wasn’t for you magic, you…”  
“Would be dead, I know. But I’m not dead and I have actually profited from that incident. The mafia are still unaware that I’ve been syphoning their bank accounts, and it’s unlikely that they ever will find out. Plus, this time, I have no intentions of leaving my home.”  
She huffed, defeated; I’d just taken away her argument. “Well… just be careful, ok?”  
“When am I not?”

Twenty minutes later Saskia was packed and ready to go. I watched her climb into my Panamera and speed off down the drive way like a silver bullet. Soon she was lost behind the trees.   
There hadn’t been many goodbyes, but I had made an effort to be civil. If my master plan went wrong, that could have been the last time we would ever see each other. I sighed and lent against the door frame, enjoying the bright sunshine and summer breeze.  
No, I told myself silently, my plan wouldn’t fail. It was about a strong as any other scheme I’d created and infinitely more devious…

Charlie came and sat beside me as I watched a sparrow-hawk fly low over the forest surrounding the manor. He sat silently for a second before looking up, “How long do you think we have?” he barked.  
He may have been a dog, but he was still smart- Papillions were noted for their intelligence. If only people knew how clever they really were. The world would have been a different place. Charlie was just as smart as any human, but because of the obvious language problem, he couldn’t communicate that. It was only because of my talents, that I could understand him at all.  
“She should be here around nightfall. Sunlight drains a fairies magic. They wouldn’t want to come out in this.” I said nodding towards the horizon where a bright, morning sun hung low. It was going to be a warm day.  
Heading back inside, I walked to my office and sat behind the desk.

My office was bigger than the control room but it still felt a little claustrophobic. There was a single window at the back, but it didn’t let in much light, so the room always seemed dark and brooding. My desk was placed just before the window so I could get as much light as possible when working. The walls to the left and right were covered from floor to ceiling with giant book cases. The books on them ranged from ‘The history of British rail roads’, to books on geography, needle work, computer engineering, to managing the business sector, there were even a few fiction books scattered around the shelves.  
Of course I read each one cover to cover. Some had been quite useless, but others I adored and read many times over.

I gazed up at the spines of a forest’s worth of books and sat back contently. This was my domain. The knowledge and power felt as someone in my position was undeniable. I was the ruler of the house. The queen of the castle as it was.

Nothing could dethrone me…


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm just going to stop doing these now...

I had watched the LEP’s approached from my office computer. They’d sent in a single officer to assess the situation. The feed from her face cam was running live on my screen now; the image of her face filled the whole tab. She was quite pretty with hazel brown skin, vibrant red hair, mismatched eyes and plump, bow lips.  
Charlie sat on my lap as we watched the look of interest on her face melt away. Her brown and blue eyes widened and her lips parted in terror.

Swiveling on my office chair, I turned to face the elf that had been looking over my shoulder.

“Good evening, Miss Short,” I began confidently, stroking Charlie from ears to tail. “At the risk of sounding clichéd, I’ve been expecting you." I laughed, but it came out as more of a contented purr. I sounded a little too much like the late Opal Koboi. Maybe I should have toned down the evil a tad…  
The LEP officer was fully shielded but, because of my contacts, I could see her very clearly. She swore and scrambled for her buzz baton, but didn’t make it far before Gladice activated the shock pad beneath her feet. Holly was out before she could finish her curse.

Reaching down I pulled the helmet from her head and looked directly into the camera. “The game begins.” I murmured removing the power cell.   
This officer had been reckless. She had come just a little too close and disobeyed a direct order to stay in the corner. There was no doubt in my mind that commander Kelp would be blowing a gasket at Foaly. This was a disaster for them. They would now have to come and make a big deal out of this whole situation. They knew that this would probably end in the use of a bio-bomb and possible time stop. Then, after hours of stress, a pile of paper work would magically appear on their desks.   
But they weren’t worried about their officer. She had been though worse situations. For her, this would be a walk in the park.

Charlie jumped of my lap and sniffed Holly twice before trotting off to ready the next stage of our plan. Gladice deactivated any technology the she had on her, making tracking impossible. This would prevent the LEP from finding us when we moved her.   
I watched the elf’s chest rise and fall for a second. She seemed so peaceful- so human. But this had to be done. After this was finished, I made a mental note to cap my criminal activities. I never wanted to have any contact with the people again.

I did, but that’s another story…

 

(LEP Police plaza- control booth)

Foaly watched the feed with a growing sense of unease. The teenage mud-girl sat at her desk, engrossed in whatever was playing on the computer screen. A small dog was perched on her lap and a set of retro-headphones fit snugly over her ears. Even though the headphones would block out most of the noise, Foaly hoped that Holly wouldn’t get overconfident with her approach…  
The manor was registered to a Miss Rene Mardling- in fact it had been in the Mardling family for generations. The Woogle search had originated here, but there was no way of knowing if The Viper was a resident or if she had just hijacked the network.   
The girl who sat before Holly now looked like any other. She had pale skin, dark coffee brown eyes and chocolaty brown hair that flowed down to her waist. The scene before the officer looked ordinary human-pet bonding experience, but for all they knew this girl could turn out to be another Fowl… or worse, another Koboi.

“Keep up that shield Holly.” Kelp ordered leaning over the mike. He had come down to the control booth to watch the proceedings as they unfolded and wasn’t overly impressed with the situation. If anything happened it would turn into a disaster. The council couldn’t touch Holly because of her past, but his job would be in the firing line.   
After all, it had been his decision to send in a single officer.   
“There’s a table in the corner of the room. Hop onto that, you should get a better vantage point. All you need to do is observe.” Foaly murmured typing commands his keyboard.   
“Got it.” was her reply as she moved to follow his advice.

“Wonderful!” The human sang joyfully. She threw her hands in the air dramatically and yanked off her headphones before starting to laugh. “Oh, the irony when they realize. I just love these people. Don’t you Charlie? I wish Butler was here to see this.”  
“I wonder what she’s watching…” Holly murmured as she took a step in the direction of the desk.  
“Don’t you dare Short!” spat Kelp as he pounded the desk with his fist. “You’re too close as it is. If this girl really does know about us I don’t want you getting anywhere near them, do you understand?”  
Holly paused. “Sir, with respect, whatever that girl is watching seems to be of great importance. I’d rather take a risk by checking it out than miss a vital piece of evidence.”  
“Don’t do it captain…”   
But it was too late. She was already making her way over to the desk.  
“You will accept one day that captain Short can’t take orders.” Foaly scoffed. He watched Trouble’s face darken and laughed. “You should have learnt that from the last few missions.”  
When she arrived at the sturdy wooden structure, Holly slipped between the office chair and the window and looked over the mud-girl’s shoulder.  
She wished she hadn’t.

On the screen played live footage of a face- her face. Holly felt the dread slowly rise in her throat. They were being watched. The girl knew she was there. She’d fallen into a trap… again. How many times would this happen before they realized it was inevitable?  
Then in one fluid motion the chair swivelled to face her. Sitting in it was a teenager with a vampire smile, “Good evening, Miss Short,” she began confidently, stroking the dog from ears to tail. “At the risk of sounding clichéd, I’ve been expecting you."  
Not good, not good, not good. The purr that followed the girl’s statement forced a tremor down Holly’s spine. She sounded far too much like Koboi for her liking. This girl seemed to radiate pure evil. Swearing Holly scrambled for her buzz-baton (her neutrino would have been useless in such close quarters) but didn’t make it far before she felt the electricity crawling up her right leg. The elf went out like a light…

Foaly couldn’t speak. He could only stare at the screen in shock. It had happened again. Holly had been kidnapped again. They had gone a whole decade without incident. Surely the loop wasn’t starting again?  
Surely their luck wasn’t that bad?  
He watched as the mud-girl picked up the helmet and looked dead into the camera. “The game begins.” she murmured before pulling out the power cell. The helmet went dead and so did everything else. Everything Holly had on her person died in an instant. They had no tracking, no nothing- impossible. Nothing could cause that.  
Kelp had gone unusually pale. His beetroot complexion washed away by shock and terror. There was no way of knowing if their officer was alive or not. They were blind.  
“What happened?” He roared seeming to snap out of his daze.  
Foaly’s fingers were suddenly a blur on his keyboard as he tried to pull up something relevant. “I’ve got nothing, but then again I wouldn’t anyway.”  
“What do you mean?”  
He sighed, “They had the feed from inside her helmet. That Human’s in my system and might have been for a while. She must have cut the link between Holly’s gadgets and my monitors.”  
Kelp rubbed his temples, “Can you bring it back up?”  
“No. I mean, I don’t even know if that’s what happened!” Foaly looked exhausted, he couldn’t bring himself to think about the possibility of another crazy-save-the-world-mission now.   
Humans shouldn’t even be able to any of this yet. But when he looked at The Viper’s description again, he understood. She was a technical mastermind. 

SHE made it possible. The girl had the brains and she was willing to use them.

“Right,” said Commander Kelp as he stood, “I’m going to take a recon team up there to find Holly. Make sure we’re kitted out with the latest tech and enough firepower to bring down a pack of trolls. Also ready a time stop. If this goes as bad as I think it will, we’ll need to move fast…” He was about to leave when he paused, “…We might need extra help on this one Foaly. Make sure our ‘friend’ is completely up to date on the situation. We’ll probably need him by the end of the night.”  
Foaly nodded.   
“Oh, and one more thing, I don’t think we have much control over this situation, but let’s act like we do.” The commander muttered as he stormed out of the booth.  
Looking at his monitors, the centaur sighed before patching himself through to their ‘friend’. A familiar face popped up on the screen within a few moments.

“What is it Foaly?” The answering voice sounded vaguely concerned.

“Artemis, we have a problem…”


	9. Chapter 9

(Fowl manor)

Artemis sat back in his chair. Holly had been kidnaped. This was an interesting situation. If this girl was indeed The Viper then the LEP was going to need his help.   
It had been so long since The People had been put in any danger, that Artemis had become accustom to the peace and quiet.   
But as they say, once more down the rabbit hole…

He’d heard of The Viper, everyone had. She was top of the current criminal pecking order- second only to M. Her technological achievements were talked about all over the world. If you wanted something, anything, she could make it. But get on her bad side and you’d know about it. One time the Russian mafia had tried to over throw her.  
Even though it had been rumoured that The Viper had obtained a fatal bullet wound, she had still managed to turn the odds in her favour and come off the victor. The mafia was still trying to recover from her revenge tactics. She’d locked all of their accounts and drained the money. Then, as a final punishment, she had blown up their weapons depot. Criminally cunning, but Artemis held no love for the Russian Mafia. Years ago they had held his father ransom and he’d failed to forgive them.

He terminated the link with Foaly and rose from his chair. No time to waste. Artemis pulled a jacket from the wardrobe and headed down the stairs to where his family was gathered in the main living room. They sat in a rough circle around the coffee table and were still laughing from a practically funny joke. The smell of fresh coffee filled his nostrils and warmth from the fire seeped into his skin.  
When his mother spotted him she smiled wide. The lines around her eyes deepened and the corners of her mouth twisted in a way only a senior citizen’s can. “Artemis, come sit down. We were just talking about you.”  
Ignoring the fact that the joke had probably been about him, he cleared his throat. “Juliet, I will require your services this evening. Please get your coat and make sure that you are fully armed. This may get quite messy.”  
The room went silent. No one really wanted to hear what he was about to say.

Butler shifted uncomfortably. He looked nearly eighty and was unable to protect Artemis now, but still worried over his old-principle’s safety. “What’s going on Artemis?”  
“I know it’s been a while, but I’m afraid to say that our dear friend Holly has been kidnaped, again. I’ve been asked to help out when necessary. And from the sound of it, I will be needed.”  
“Who would do such a thing?” gasped Angeline Fowl.  
Artemis tried to let that last comment slip and instead focused on the facts. “We believe that it may have been a super-criminal called The Viper. She lured the LEP in with a Woogle search comprised of trigger words. When Holly got close enough she incapacitated her. We’re not sure if Holly’s alive. Trouble’s leading a recon team to assess the situation and find out.”  
Across the room Myles’s face had twisted into one of shock. His mind whirled as he tried to figure out what this would mean for both his family and his criminal career. He stood before bolting past Artemis, straight out of the open door.   
Becket smirked and followed his twin.   
Artemis didn’t get the chance to ask what was bothering his brothers because at that moment Isabelle stormed into the room and threw her phone onto the table.  
“My phone’s not working.” She snapped angrily.

After Artemis had first disappeared, Mr. and Mrs. Fowl had conceived Becket and Myles. Then, when Artemis had actually died twelve years ago, Angeline had become pregnant once more. This time it had been a girl. Isabelle.  
Isabelle Fowl was tall and thin with raven black hair and sea green eyes. She was incredibly intelligent but didn’t show it very often. Her main goals in life were to be as popular as possible and make her brother’s lives hell. Most of the time, Isabelle acted like a spoiled brat. She cared for little other than her shoe and handbag collections and often took shopping trips into Dublin to refresh them. And even though she was only eleven, Isabelle's skirts really ventured bellow her knees and her t-shirts were always a size too small.   
The rest of the Fowl family wasn’t best please with her behaviour, but what could they say? Act your age?  
Artemis cleared his throat to get her attention, “I’m going out and taking Juliet with me. We’ll be back late so please try to behave yourself for once.”  
“Whatever.” She hissed sticking her chin and brushing past him back out the door.  
He watched he go before turning back to the occupants of the room.

“Mother as I said I will be back late. Father I’m afraid I will have to pull out of the eco fair tomorrow, will you make my excuses?”  
Artemis Fowl senior nodded, “Sure but be careful. I’ve never had the pleasure of dealing with The Viper, but from what I’m told she can be dangerous.”  
“I know.” Artemis said with a grim smile, “Although, I must say that I’ve dealt with worse.”   
Juliet snorted, “You could say that.” She stood and brushed off a few non-existent crumbs. “I’ll go get ready and bring the car around the front.”  
“Don’t do anything stupid Artemis. I know it’s been a while but you do have a habit of getting yourself into trouble.” Butler rumbled from his armchair.  
He smiled, “Don’t worry dear friend. We will be careful.” With that Artemis turned his back to the living room and headed for the front door. He was prepared for the worst. But when you make a habit of saving the world on a regular basis- well… used to make a habit of saving the world on a regular basis- you tent to do that anyway.

 

(Mardling manor)

Holly glared at me as I delivered her eyeball orders. “You will not try to escape, you will not harm me or my colleagues, you will not interfere with my plan, you will not leave your chair and, most importantly, you will not use magic unless given permission. Do you understand?”  
“Clear as crystal.” She spat at me sarcastically. “So what are you going to do with me? Use me as a science prize, cut me up, experiment on me, or is it just a classic kidnapping with a ransom? Because whatever your half-cut scheme is, you’re not going to get away with it.”  
I smiled at her sweetly, “Oh, Holly. You have no idea do you? I am not your average kidnapper; I have no intention of using you for my own personal gain. Of course I will be asking for a ransom for your release, but it is not my main objective. Other motives had driven me to this moment in time and greed is not one of them.”  
She blinked at me. “What?”  
“You’ll see.”

With that I turned back to my monitors and watched the LEP recon team as they assembled on my front lawn. Commander Trouble Kelp gathered them close and spoke to them in hushed tones. They weren’t getting any heat signatures from inside the building, so they assumed the house was empty.  
Neutrinos drawn, they passed through my open front door and into the reception hall… straight into my trap…

 

(Mardling manor, front lawn)

Commander Kelp assessed the team in front of him. They were all experienced professionals- some had even been there on the first Artemis Fowl incident. They knew all too well how quickly a situation could swing one way or another.  
When Trouble had been standing on Fowl’s lawn he had had his brother with him. But this time, Grub was safe back in Haven- sick but safe.  
“Ok,” he said through the radio, “we’re here to find captain Short and bring her home safely.”  
Chix Verbal, an obnoxious sprite who was an old friend of Holly’s, cleared his throat, “Isn’t this a job for retrieval?”  
“Retrieval’s still trying to deal with that Hatfield forest incident. They still need to find one man that’s proving a challenge. Now, follow me and stay close.” He barked at the men.

Kelp advanced up the stone steps to the open front door with the team close on his heels. Pocking it with his neutrino he pushed it open and stepped into the large hall. An ornate staircase rose up opposite the front door.   
A few other doors were dotted around the walls, some were open but most were closed. The heavy Victorian decorations gave the place a ‘lair like’ feel. It was cold and intimidating. Keeping their guns up, they crossed the hall in formation and checked the first few of rooms:  
“Kitchen’s clear.”  
“Dining room’s clear.”  
“Bathroom’s clear.”  
“Cloakroom’s clear.”  
“Door’s locked sir.”  
The commander looked at the door in question. It was just like all the others, but was very clearly locked from the inside. He blasted the handle with his neutrino, melting locking mechanism. The door swung inward to reveal…   
…A box.  
As he approached the wooden crate he felt the felt bile rise in his throat. His old commander, Julius Root, had once found a similar scene aboard an old whaling ship moments before it had exploded in a spectacular fashion.  
Sitting on top of the crate was Holly’s tracking device, and next to that, sat a mini-TV with a set of micro speakers. Behind Trouble, the door to the room slammed shut and a hidden bolt slid into place-locking him alone in the room with the device. He was tapped.

“Good evening commander,” sang a female voice. Kelp spun to find that a face had popped-up on the screen. She was pretty for a mud-girl, with chocolate brown hair and eyes that were slightly darker- black coffee perhaps? Her features could even have been described as ‘pixyish’. Trouble could almost imagine her with pointy ears and an LEP jumpsuit.  
“What have you done with Ho… captain Short? If you’ve harmed even a single hair on her head, I swear I will hunt you down and make sure you pay.” He tried to make his voice sound more confident than he really was.  
The girl laughed, “Oh don’t worry about Holly. She’ll be fine, just as long as you do what I say.”  
“How can I trust you to keep your promise?”  
Reaching forward she typed in a few instructions and the camera zoomed out to show more of the room. It was mainly concrete but there were a few grey filing cabinets and, there sitting in another chair behind her kidnapper was, captain Short. She looked frustrated and a little frazzled, but other than that, fine. “Happy?”  
“What do you want in exchange?”  
Another laugh, “Don’t worry about that either. That will come later. But for now I just wanted to show you what I can do by simply pressing a button.”  
Trouble’s hand shook slightly, that sounded ominous, “What do you mean?”  
“You’ll see what I mean. For now just know that you’re free remove your injured, but if another fairy enters my home uninvited, you will be terminated by one of my many booby traps.” She grinned at what seemed to be a personal joke, “There is a small communicator behind the Screen, take that and I will be in touch. You may leave now.”  
Trouble saw his opportunity, “So you’re in the house then?”  
“Of course I am. This is my home and I refuse to leave it. I am currently in my control room protecting myself- and Miss Short- from the gas.” A sinister tone had crept into the teen’s voice.  
“Gas, what gas?”  
The door slowly swung open, releasing the LEP commander. “Find out for yourself.”

Out in the hall way, commander Trouble Kelp saw for himself what she meant.

The entire recon team was sprawled across the floor- unconscious.  
Switching channels Trouble got through to Foaly back in the control booth. “Foaly get up here with that time-stop. We’re going to need a med team too,” he paused before finishing, still not too happy with the idea, “and alert Fowl. We’ll need him.”  
“Got it… I’ve already filled in the council, and I’ve gotta tell you, Trubs, they ain’t happy. Maybe they’ll explode before this thing’s over?”  
“Can it Foaly, we don’t have time for horsing around.” Snapped Trouble angrily, then in a louder voice, “And don’t call be Trubs!”

 

(Mardling manor, control room)

“That went well.” I thought out loud.  
Holly, who was still sitting behind me, kicked the back of my chair, “You monster! What did you do to them?”  
“Calm down Captain, it was just a specialised knockout gas.” I reassured her, “They will be fine in a few hours. They’ll have a headache but other than that there is no other side effects.”  
She folded her arms defiantly, “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”  
I sighed and turned to face her. “My dear Holly, I am not the sort for being dishonest,” except to people I know will forgive me, “and I swear to you now, for the rest of your stay here I will not lie to either you or your colleagues. You will get nothing but the truth.”  
The look on the elf’s face was a mixture of shock and astonishment. She hadn’t been expecting anything nearly that civilized. It was as if she was looking at me for the first time. “Why did you kidnap me exactly?”

Turning back to the bank of monitors I frowned. Travis’s boy had been terrified of me. Demetrio had had held nothing but respect for me. Myles was the only one who had looked at me as an equal. He had talked to me as a peer, not a criminal mastermind.  
Now, I was loathed by the LEP.   
They wouldn’t stop hunting me until I had either taken their gold or I was dead. After Artemis Fowl had beaten his mind wipe, they weren’t taking any chances. I needed to strike some fear into these fairies, and hopefully my little stunt had managed just that. Now they knew what I could do they would take more caution when approaching my home.

On the front lawn the LEP Trouble Kelp stood waiting on his lonesome. It would be about an hour before reinforcements arrived, that was if they took E1, so he had a long wait…


	10. Chapter 10

(A café in Dublin)

Artemis sat outside a café with Juliet. He sipped a low-fat cappuccino, patiently waiting for the call from Foaly.   
Juliet coughed awkwardly, “Um, Artemis…”  
“Yes Juliet?”  
She sighed, “Last night your brothers went out without any supervision. I’m not sure where they went but Becket seemed quiet afterwards. Then this morning I heard Myles talking on the phone about his ‘plan’. I think that they’re… well…”  
“You think that my brothers are up to something.” Summarised Artemis slowly, thinking about what that meant.  
Juliet nodded, “Myles definitely. I mean, did you see Myles’s face when you mentioned The Viper this morning?”  
He nodded, “I did think that weird.”  
“Maybe he’s got a girlfriend?” she chuckled.  
For the first time in years, Artemis Fowl the 2nd was speechless. He couldn’t imagine his brother with a female on his arm- Becket maybe, but Myles? And that still didn’t explain his brother’s reaction to The Viper’s name. After this was over he had to figure out exactly what was going on.

Suddenly Artemis’s phone buzzed. He answered and held it up to his ear, “let me guess, something’s happened?”  
Foaly sighed down the line. “Get to Mardling manor within the hour, we’re setting a time-stop and we need you there.”  
He nodded, “I’ll be there.”  
Juliet looked up. “I’ll go get the car.”

 

(Mardling manor, 1 hour later)

Juliet drove up the long gravel drive way just as Foaly was about to press the button to start the time-stop.  
Artemis exited the Bentley and followed the waiting LEP officers to where they were based. The field base was set in the ruins of an old guest house on the edge of the grounds. It took Artemis nearly ten minutes to make it as his sense of balance was nearly non-existent and the forest was filled with knotted roots and fallen tree stumps.   
Foaly stood outside to greet the pair as the approached. “I wondered if you two were going to make it. I thought I might’ve had to send out a search party. You cut it a little close didn’t you?” he said punching Artemis lightly on the arm.  
The Irish man shook his head, “There was an accident on the way here. It blocked up the road and we had to take an alternant root.”  
“I don’t care about your excuses Mud-man.” stormed Trouble Kelp as he appeared behind Foaly, “I just want Holly out of there as fast as possible. That girl knocked out an entire recon team.”  
“Has there been any contact?” asked Artemis cautiously.  
Trouble nodded, “She had me locked in a room while she took down my team. She gave me this communicator,” he placed it on the table, “and, she showed me Holly. Short’s safe for the moment.”

“The time-stop’s up yes?” Artemis asked sitting down in one of the chairs.  
Foaly clopped over, “It is. We have about twenty-four hours to get this job done.”  
“Forty-eight hours?” Juliet frowned, that wasn’t the way she remembered it.  
“There have been some advances since you first encountered a time stop my dear.” Foaly laughed.  
From the table, the communicator began to vibrate.  
It was starting…

 

(Mardling manor, Control room)

I patched myself through to the communicator. Commander Kelp answered, “Have you come up with any demands yet mud-girl?” he asked gruffly.  
Sighing deeply into the mike I smiled. “Is that anyway to start a hostage negotiation Commander? Because I’m sure it’s not.”  
“Just get on with it.” he snapped.  
“I’m not entirely happy with talking over a phone, so please send two people with half a brain cell between them to the front door. I will be waiting. Oh, and I want those people to be able to make decisions there and then. I get tired of waiting on low rankers.”  
Kelp snorted, “I don’t care what makes you tired.”  
“Oh, you should fairy. Remember, I’m the mud-girl with the elf’s life in her hands. I’m sure Holly wouldn’t want me to get bored too quickly.” I smirked at her, but she didn’t smile back. Hanging up I turned to Holly and looked her dead in the eye. “Don’t move from your chair or touch anything.”

I exited my control room and walked through the house to the front door. Straightening my clothes I pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes.  
Kelp was accompanied by Artemis Fowl. They walked up the steps and paused just outside. We assessed each other silently before I nodded my head and invited them inside.  
Artemis wore a black shirt with black trousers and well-worn designer loafers- showing that he still cared for quality but now preferred to use his clothes until they were worn-out. A pair of glasses balanced on his nose and his bright blue eyes were bright and intelligent. His black hair was longer than his LEP profile picture but I wasn’t entirely surprised. There were thin age lines around his eyes and at the corners of his lips. Overall he looked about 30 years old, but officially he was 28. I wondered if it was because of stress or something else that had ages him those extra couple of years.  
As Artemis stepped into my home he half bowed, “It really is a pleasure.”  
I smiled, “Likewise.”  
Trouble looked uncomfortable, “Right let’s get this over with mud-girl.”  
Nodding I motioned to the left, “Right this way, gentlemen.”

I led the way to the conference room. On the table there were jugs of water and a few crystal ashtrays. Sitting at the head of the table I watched commander Kelp take out a fungus cigar and light it.  
Artemis chuckled as he sat down a couple of chairs down to my left. “You really do have a nice home here Viper.”  
“We’re going to be stuck here, in this time, for a while so please call me Rene.” I smiled.  
“Where’s my officer?” Trouble began harshly, “I saw her on the video last time we talked.”  
I nodded, “You did but right now she is in my control room, no doubt watching this conversation.” looking up at the moveable, wall mounted screen in the corner of the room I said, “Gladice bring up captain Short would you?”  
“I don’t have a choice, so why do you ask like I do?” she grumbled before displaying the feed from my webcam.  
Artemis lent forward as Holly’s face came up on the screen. “Can she hear us?”  
Again I nodded.  
“Are you ok Holly?” he asked carefully.  
On the screen, she nodded and looked relived, “I must say Artemis this girl is definitely a better hostage keeper than you ever were. She’s letting me keep my magic for one.”  
Trouble smiled at that. It seemed to amuse him greatly. “I want you to remain professional Miss short.” He announced, “And keep looking for a way to escape.”  
Holly shook her head, “Sorry Trubs, but I’m under eyeballs not to do exactly that.”  
He sighed, “It was worth a try I guess.” Kelp turned back to me. “What DO you want?”  
“I’m not really in this for the money, so I’ll keep the ransom to say… half a metric ton of fairy gold. That should be enough to keep you busy.”  
Kelp looked to be pondering my ransom demand, but Artemis had picked up on my hint, “What do you mean you’re ‘not really in this for the money’?”  
I gave my evil smile- the vampire one. “I’m afraid if I told you that Fowl, I’d have to silence you.”  
Artemis smiled back. “And how would you do that?”  
Leaning back in my chair I raised the fingers on my right hand. “I can be very…” a spark danced across the tips, “…persuasive.”  
Trouble stood abruptly. “You’re a warlock.”  
“You could say that.”

After a few more threats I showed them to the door. “Make sure you consider my offer.” I purred, “Holly would really appreciate it if you did.”  
“And if we don’t?”  
I leant against the door frame, “If you don’t, then I guess I’ll be getting a bio-bomb through my letter box then won’t I?”  
“You’d die.” He confirmed.  
“Did Artemis ever explain how he beat the Bio-Bomb?” I asked as he turned his back. The commander paused but continued on his way down the steps and back to his camp in the woods. Artemis did stop though. He studied me for a few more seconds before he too turned away and walked back to their temporary field base.

I smiled. That had gone better than expected.

Maybe this would be so difficult after all…


	11. Chapter 11

(Mardling Manor- LEP field base)

Commander Kelp threw down his helmet on the table. “I want Holly out of there. That mud-girl’s insane.”  
“No,” said Artemis crossing his legs, “she’s not insane. This teen is the most feared criminal of her generation. But not for her ruthlessness, it’s for her technological achievements. I doubt even you could beat this girl in a science fair, Foaly.”  
The centaur looked deeply offended, “I could to!”  
Digging the iris-cam out of his eye Trouble tossed it across the table. “Just be quiet and tell me what you’ve found.”  
“Be careful with that. Those lens cams are expensive.” Foaly complained polishing the tech and returning it to its container.  
“Get on with it.”  
He huffed, “Fine.” with a few flicks of his fingers, the centaur brought up the information he’d found on The Viper. “Rene Mardling, last in a long line of Mardlings. Father ran off three years ago leaving her with the family business and the estate, mother committed suicide two years before that. Our Rene sold the technology firm and successfully proved her independence. At the age of 13 she trained at Madam Ko’s academy, becoming the youngest ever student to graduate and achieve the famed blue-diamond tattoo. Since then Miss Mardling has been, well… I think we all get the picture.”  
Artemis slowly absorbed the information he’d been given. Their opponent was well equipped and could obviously see through the fairy shield. Not only that but she appeared to be every bit as intelligent as himself and was most definitely not out of her league. She was a big girl. She could play in the big leagues.  
Kelp roused Artemis from his thoughts by clearing his throat. “When we left she asked whether or not you had told Foaly how to escape the time stop. Do you think she’s figured it out?”  
“I’ve never told anyone how I escaped your snare. But it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s figured it out too. She is indeed smart enough to do so.” He thought about it for a second, “When you first arrived you could detect no heat signatures in the building?”  
“Still can’t.” confirmed Foaly, checking his monitors. “But what does that have to do with the time stop?”

The Irishman blinked patiently, “The fact that you cannot see them proves that The Viper’s control room is most likely lead lined, and thickly too. The lead would protect them from a bio-bomb, should you choose to detonate one.”  
“So they’ll survive in either situation?”  
He nodded, “That’s the idea. The viper had this figured out before she invited you here.”  
Kelp’s face took on a familiar, beetroot hue. “Well then what do you suppose we should do? No bio bomb, the time stop’s as good as useless and we’ve got an officer still trapped in there. I don’t know about you, but there isn’t a great many things we can do other than pay the ransom and be done with this.” His fist shook as he banged the table loudly.  
For the first time Juliet spoke, “I know Artemis probably wouldn’t agree but I have a suggestion.”  
“Go ahead.” Foaly chuckled.  
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “When the best minds in the world can’t finish the job, the strongest usually can.”  
“What are you getting at?”  
“The Viper thinks that her house is impregnable. We can’t hack into her security systems but there is one thing we do have. We still have the one thing she doesn’t- brute force. Sure she can hold off a bunch of fairies, but can she hold against something bigger? Say… a troll?”  
After a second’s thought, Artemis nodded, “That would work.”  
“We send in a troll.” Kelp murmured his eyes widening.  
Artemis lent forward in his chair, “A troll and his rider.”

 

(Heaven Police Plaza)

 

Mulch Diggums had done a little better for himself in the decade since the great techno crash than anyone had expected. Apart from putting his criminal career behind him, he also became the commander of the LEP’s first Troll-mounted unit. He had a trained team of dwarves under his supervision and comfy seat at the commanders’ table every month. Sure he missed his days of total freedom, but this life was just as good. Diggums had become addicted to the thrill that came with helping people.

He was currently in the middle of putting his feet up, literally. His muddy boots were up on his desk and his cap was pulled low to cover his eyes. It had been a tiring day and Mulch was enjoying the benefits of having your own office- privacy.  
A knock on the door interrupted the commander’s peace. He looked up to see one of his captains standing in the doorway. The stubby dwarf looked out of breath. His chest rose and fell like a set of bellows. “Sorry sir but we have an emergency.”  
“What is it? A riot in outside the school, a building collapse, an escaped convict?” Mulch smiled, “Get Mico and Phody to deal with it. They’re on duty.”  
“Holly Short’s been kidnaped.” The captain managed to choke out.  
Mulch almost fell off his chair. Holly kidnapped, again, after all this time? Surely they had gotten past all of that? “You’ve got to be kidding me?”  
“No sir, they’ve asked for you to get up there with Theo. Trouble’s already called in your old friend, Artemis Fowl.”  
“Fowl…? They really must be desperate…”

 

(Mardling manor- control room)

 

Spinning on my chair, I turned to face Holly. “Are you hungry Miss Short?”  
“I don’t want any of your contaminated food mud-girl.”  
“Really, you think I can allow pollutants into my soil and continue to retain my magical abilities? All fruit and vegetables in this house are grown here on my estate. I can assure you that there will be nothing but organic produce on your plate.” I paused to smile at her, “And I am trained in gourmet cooking.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, what am I having?”  
“What would you like?”  
Leaning back in her chair she shrugged. “Curry then.”  
“Follow me Miss Short.” I instructed rising from my own chair and opening the door.  
“Where are we going?”  
I looked back at her, “To the kitchen of course.”

When she did eventually follow, we made our way through the manor and into the kitchen. As usual the smell of spices greeted me as I opened the door and stepped inside. Beside me I noted that Holly took a similar breath as if to savour the scent. The air in my kitchen had to be a whole lot better than recycled tunnel air.  
Charlie sat on the table and watched us as we came in. “You took your time.” he barked gruffly.  
I rolled my eyes- not something I made a habit of, “What were you expecting? The LEP came all the way from Haven City, so of course it took them a while to get here.”  
“You’re talking to the dog?” Captain shorted snorted, seeming a little bemused.  
Charlie growled at her, “Of course she is. Do you think I would stay anywhere where I can’t be understood? Humans tend to treat dogs with very little respect on this planet. Here I get free reign to do whatever I please, while being understood at the time.”  
“What did he say?” she asked me quietly as if not to upset him again.  
It hit me then. “Ah, yes. From your past exploits with Artemis fowl you have picked up enough English to make polite conversation. But for other languages, such as Charlie’s for example, you would need your gift of tongues. I give you permission to use magic, but only for that.”  
Holly nodded her thanks.  
“Right then,” I said clapping my hands together, “food. Charlie will you be eating?”  
“Sure, why not?”

Taking out the ingredients I got to work while Holly and Charlie chatted at the table. It seemed that Miss short was very interested in me and my motives but Charlie would only give her what she needed to know. She seemed relieved just to be able to get up and walk around. Apparently in the Fowl siege she had been locked in the basement and treated rather poorly.   
Then again, Fowl hadn’t even been a teenager at the time. He had been little more than a boy- a child.  
“If you’re not doing this for the money, then what are you doing it for?” It took me a second to realize that Holly was in fact talking to me.  
I turned, “There is more to life than just money captain. By doing this I am helping to create a better future- for everyone. Maybe you will understand later, but for now, dinner is served.”  
Placing two bowls of food down on the table I turned to clean up.  
“Aren’t you eating?”  
“Eating can make you docile. It can blur your judgement when you are most in need.” Something occurred to me then. “Are you ok Miss Short?”   
“I’m fine. Why?”  
“You seem to be a little more relaxed than would be expected for someone in your… position.”  
She shrugged, “You were telling the truth. You won’t harm me and I’ve got a feeling that that control room of yours could easily withstand a Bio-bomb. As far as I can see, I’m safe for the time being. I might as well enjoy the perks of being your prisoner.” She spooned another bite of curry into her mouth before returning to her previous conversation with Charlie.   
She was treating this like a vacation. I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that.

Looking down at my phone I noticed that I’d received a text. That should have been impossible with the time stop in place. It must have happened before Mardling Manor was locked down. “Gladice why didn’t you tell me I had a text?”  
Her face appeared on the breakfast screen. “I um… I didn’t want to worry you in the middle of something important like this… you always tell me to watch your back and well… I was only trying to help.” She sounded nervous- very nervous. She didn’t usually get like that unless it was a life and death situation. Picking up the phone I opened the message.   
The second my eyes scanned the name and contents, my brain went into a mental lockdown. I had to lean against the counter for support as my legs refused to support me anymore. It was like the world had been swiped from underneath my feet. My usually pale face took on a chalk-like pallor and my fingers shook so much that my phone went smashing to the kitchen tiles.  
Startled, the pair at the table looked in my direction. Charlie jumped to his paws. “What’s wrong? What’s happening? Are you ok?”  
Even Holly looked concerned, “I’ve seen Artemis pull that same look before, and it usually ends in something going spectacularly wrong. I’m not going to end up an elf milkshake am I?”  
They sounded like they were at the end of a very long tunnel. My ears couldn’t focus on them because the sound of my own heartbeat smothered everything else. I knew from experience that if I didn’t get a grip, I would end up passing out. My vision was already clouded with black blotches and the taste of tin coated my mouth.  
“Get a grip Rene.” Gladice hissed shocking me with a jolt of electricity.  
My body convulsed but it cleared my head enough for me to regain control. I shook my head from side to side as if to shake of the effects of the text message. This was bad, very bad.  
Pulling a replacement phone from the kitchen draw, I installed the old sim card. “Finish your meal Miss Short we will be returning to the control room soon. I do believe the LEP will be making their next move in the very near future.”  
“Maybe slightly sooner than you think.” Gladice murmured bringing up the footage from the front lawn.  
Holly smiled, “This is going to be fun.”


	12. Chapter 12

Mulch entered the time stop and made his way to the LEP field base. Theo was left in his travelling box on the front lawn, he was still agitated from the trip to the surface and Mulch thought that it would be a bad idea to annoy him further.  
When he reached the abandoned guest house, Mulch was breathing heavily. He wiped the sweat off of his brow and walked up to the building. The door swung open to reveal the centaur Foaly, who put his hands on his hips, “You stink Mulch, what happened? Did you roll in a dung heap on the way here?”  
“You can talk donkey boy.” He huffed, “Where’s Trouble?”  
Foaly pouted, “Where did our love go? We used to be so great together.”  
“Hey we still are, haven’t you noticed?” with a smirk he pushed past the centaur and into the house. He was greeted by a handful of familiar faces.

Trouble gave Mulch a full briefing while Artemis, Foaly and Juliet chatted quietly in the corner. From what he could hear they were talking about the best possible route through the house. Apparently they wanted him to go in and bring Holly out- simple enough when you think about it.  
“So that’s pretty much It.” concluded Kelp lighting a fungus cigar. “The second we get a heat signature, you’re in.”  
“Don’t worry Trubs this girls as good as done.” He flashed his famous tombstone teeth, “Theo’ll have no trouble getting in there, hey Trouble?”  
Artemis sighed deeply. “I don’t want that girl hurt. She once blew up a weapons deport simply because she had a sour meeting with its owners. I’d hate to think what she would do to us if you actually injured her.”  
“Is that the only reason you don’t want her to be wounded?” Juliet asked raising an eyebrow.  
Artemis raised one dark eyebrow in return. “I was once an enemy of the LEP too, and look how I turned out.”  
Mulch smiled, “Smug, over confident, self-satisfied... who’d want another you?”  
“Cut it out Mulch.” Trouble snapped. He turned to the human before him, “Sorry Artemis but there’s no other way. We can’t risk a mind wipe. She’s too clever to be trusted.”  
Artemis stood, “I can’t believe this. Since when have the LEP been known for murder?”  
“Since you came along and changed everything.” Kelp snapped, eyeing the Irish human with fresh distaste.  
Artemis abruptly turned on his heels and marched out of the guest house. He had to think, there had to be another way.   
Juliet paused on her way to follow her employer, “Artemis didn’t want to say it but I will. You’ve changed.” She looked at them with disgust, “All of you have. The LEP we once knew would have tried to find a way around taking a life. I hope this blows up in your faces.”  
All they could do was watch her leave, speechless.

 

(Mardling Manor- Kitchen)

 

We watched the live stream from the front lawn. A monstrous creature was approaching the house. Its frame was covered in thick dreadlocks that swayed back and forth as it walked. Two wicked tusks sprouted from its jaw- even on the screen I could see the venom dripping down their length. The monster walked on all fours, like an ape. It trundled along slowly but I got the feeling it could move a lot faster if it needed to.  
On its back sat a pudgy dwarf that was almost as hairy. He controlled the troll by pulling on two tufts of shaggy fur.  
“Well that’s not something you see every day.” Gladice murmured.  
My mind began processing all possible outcomes, if only we could... “Holly we need to get back to my control room.” I pushed holly in front of me to get her walking. “Charlie, come on!”  
We made it as far as the main hall before we heard a loud crash behind us. They must have gone round the side of the building. There were French doors there that connected the living room to the patio. It would have been safer than coming through the front- where I could have set off any number of traps.

We broke into a sprint as the commotion behind us got closer, but made it no further than the stairs before they broke through the living room wall. Pieces of wall and plaster were sent flying in all directions. A chunk of debris the size of a bowling ball hit the back of Holly’s head. She was knocked unconscious and fell to the polished floor. The troll was closing the distance. We only had seconds left before it reached us.  
I hadn’t wanted to do it but it seemed that there was no other option. Skidding to a stop, I turned to face the danger. It stood no more than fifteen feet away- so close now that I could actually feel the troll’s body heat. Under my skin I felt the sparks beginning to stir.  
“This is a violation of my conditions.” I said firmly, knowing very well that everyone in the field base could hear me.  
Through the helmet speakers, the dwarf’s voice sounded metallic. “Look sweetie I just drive the troll on this one.”  
“On this one?” I ducked as the troll swiped it’s arm in my direction. “You mean you’ve been on similar exploits?”  
The rider had brought the troll to a halt. “Hand over Holly or I’ll have to take her by force and I can’t guarantee your safety if that happens. It’s a pity. Your house is much better than other’s I’ve been in.”  
“Oh, so you’ve been in other human households?” I asked calmly. He paused, realising that he’d given something away. I continued, “If you try to get through me Miss Short will suffer. I will not be as hospitable as I have been previously. You will see less of Rene Mardling and more of The Viper. Think about that for a second Diggums.”  
He wavered, “You know who I am?”  
“It wasn’t really difficult. When you first addressed me you called Miss short by her first name, even Kelp addressed her by her rank. This indicated that you have worked with her very closely before. Then when said that you’d been in human houses before- the LEP have only recently, in the couple of decades, removed the need for permission. This means that you would have had to enter the homes illegally, now that really did narrow down my options down. Eventually, taking into account the fact that you’ve been on similar escapades, there was only really one possible conclusion.” Picking a piece of rubble off of my blouse I waited for that all to sink in. “Oh, and there is the fact that you wear a name tag, Commander Mulch Diggums.”  
Charlie barked a laugh from behind me. The troll saw him for the first time and picked up slightly. It reminded Mulch of his main objective. He took a firmer hold of the troll’s hair and slowly began to advance in my direction. “You’re smart mud-girl but that doesn’t really matter now. I’ve only known one human to take down a troll singlehandedly. And you are not him.”  
I backed up a few steps until my back was against the wall. Not the best place to be.   
“You’re talking about the Fowl’s Butler aren’t you?”  
I could just about see him nod.  
“Well guess what?”  
“What?”  
“I’ve had the same training as he has.”

With that I reached behind me and pulled a pair of Sais from the wall. The polished silver metal glinted in the light form the chandelier. They were deadly sharp and fitted perfectly in my hand.  
Mulch pushed his troll forward into a charge.  
The deep musty smell of the troll’s fur hit me as I rolled to the side and avoided his first strike. With its momentum the troll could not avoid crashing into the wall. There was a crunch as it flattened my mahogany cabinet.  
“Charlie, move!” I yelled turning back to them.  
I didn’t have a second to breath before the troll was on me again. But, no matter how hard he hated it, he could only move as fast as master could think- which was a major flaw in the LEP’s strategy.   
Having already established a plan of attack, I ducked under the troll’s shaggy arm and got round its back. It tried to turn but it was too slow. I brought my Sais swiftly across the creature’s hamstrings. It roared and fell to its knees. Without magic the troll wouldn’t be able to get back on its feet. It was down.  
I stepped back to avoid its swinging arms. It might have been down but it could still lash out with its scythe-like claws.  
Mulch cursed and clumsily jumped down from the thrashing troll. He landed a few metres from me and pulled out his neutrino. “Don’t move a muscle mud-girl.”  
“Gladice, disable our friend’s weapon and anything else he might have on his person.”  
“Yes ma’am.”  
A steam of profanities and curses followed the blackout of his equipment. He pulled at the dead trigger a few times before throwing his helmet halfway across the room, smashing a Ming vase. “You will pay for this!”  
“Oh, I’m sure I will.” I turned to a screen in the corner of the hall. “Gladice tranquilise the troll would you? It’ll damage it’s self even more if you don’t.”  
“Err… are you sure you want me to do that? The LEP’ll want it back, and they can’t come and collect it if it’s out of the time-stop.”  
“That’s a good point, steel-bond it then and stop the bleeding.” I waved my hand and went over to check on Holly. She had a small cut on her forehead but as I watched a spark of magic healed the wound. Behind me the troll thrashed as metal rings tightened around it’s middle. “Come on Charlie. Let’s go have a word with our friends.”  
He barked in agreement before trotting ahead of me up the stairs.  
Mulch on the other hand wasn’t so quick to comply. He had his arms folded tightly over his chest and both feet planted shoulders width apart, the message was clear, ‘I’m going to give you hell’.  
“Come along Mr Diggums. There is no way out of this building; Gladice will make sure of that. In fact, she’s already blocking up the hole punched through the living room wall. The only thing you can do now is surrender with dignity.”  
He remained in his defiant pose, “I’ll think of a way out.”  
“Oh, you might not want to after I’ve given you my proposal.” I said calmly beginning to ascend the stairs two at a time.  
He slowly followed. “What do you mean proposal?”  
“You’ll see.”


	13. Chapter 13

(Mardling Manor- LEP field base) 

Foaly tried to absorb how badly things had gone wrong, but it was difficult. It had been a good plan. Everything should have gone as intended, but they didn’t. This mud girl had taken down the fully grown bull troll with minimal effort. She barely had to move a muscle before her opponent was thrashing on the floor. The last thing they saw was Mulch pulling out his gun before everything went black. Now, they had two fairies trapped inside the house with a very angry human.   
Who knew what she would do to them?  
Beside him, Trouble was yelling at anyone who came too close. This was an absolute disaster; it could even have resulted in the Commander losing his badge. Trouble was the most level headed fairy on the force. If he went than so would the stability that had arisen after the great techno-crash. They had to think of something to sort out this situation and fast.  
Artemis and Juliet still hadn’t returned so it looked like they were going to have to do this on their own. Where had those two got off to? Foaly remembered what Juliet had said and sighed. She was probably right. Maybe they really weren’t the same LEP that they had been back in the day. But they did have a good reason.

Since their trouble with Opal Koboi, The People had become more guarded than ever. They figured that an enemy who is down for good can never come back to haunt you- although, they can’t change their ways either.   
What if they HAD killed Artemis when he was still twelve years old? Would Koboi have taken over by now? Would the humans have found them? Would everyone be dead?  
He shuddered.   
But still… this girl hadn’t shown any real signs of aggression towards them. Holly hadn’t been harmed- well she had, but it wasn’t the human’s fault- and Rene had said herself that she wasn’t in it for the money. But what else was there to gain other than money- technology?   
Foaly guessed that Rene could get hold of any fairy blue print with a simple wave of her hand, so that was out of the question.  
Another thing the LEP had been putting to one side was the fact that she was a human warlock. Maybe she was doing this to keep her magic. If she walked away with the gold, the LEP wouldn’t be able to come near her unless she did something that put them in danger. Now THAT sounded like a half decent reason.  
“I’ve got an idea.” He announced waking across the room and snatching the communicator from the table.  
Trouble frowned, “We don’t have time for any of your ‘ideas’ Foaly, we need solutions.”  
“This idea may very well turn into a solution. Now get out, I need to concentrate for a second and you are all distracting Me.” he stamped his hoof against the ancient wooden floorboards sending up a cloud of dust.  
For a second, the commander looked like he was considering shooting the centaur, but after a moment’s thought he sighed. “Everyone out!” he turned to Foaly, “You’ve got fifteen minutes. Make it count…”

 

(Mardling Manor- control room)

 

Mulch sat next to me as I brought up the video link to the LEP field base. Foaly stood alone in the empty room with his back to us. I cleared my throat to get his attention and the centaur almost jumped out of his skin.  
His jaw dropped when he saw the pair of us staring back at him. “You… you…”  
I rolled my eyes- again something that I really didn’t want to turn into a habit- and smiled. “Mr Foaly I assume you know why I am calling.”  
He nodded stiffly.  
“Well then, I have to come to deliver a new set of demands since you have clearly disregarded my old ones. This is the last time though. Once more and I will be forced to take… drastic measures. And as I hold two of your colleagues for ransom, I very much doubt you’d want me doing that.”  
In that moment he noticed something that should have been obvious from the beginning: I was alone in the control room with Mulch and Charlie. “Where’s Holly?” he demanded.  
“I’m afraid you nor your fellow fairies will see Miss Short for the remainder of this escapade. You’ve seen to that by sending in your friend here.” I motioned to the dwarf beside me. “Don’t worry; she will come to no harm. Well, unless I die, then I fear Miss Short will be following me into the afterlife- one way or the other.”  
Foaly had turned chalk white. “I’m not seeing her heat signature on the infrared scanners. If she’s not with you than where…” he blinked, “… you have a dog. But you didn’t earlier and no other heat signatures were shown on the monitors, so… you must be masking his presence with some kind of signal jammer attacked to his collar.”  
I nodded- he was better than I’d originally thought. “Holly is similarly out of action. Even if you managed to get into my home you would not get to her. Gladice would stop you before you made it to the second floor.”  
“So she’s on the second floor?” a spark of hope lit his eyes for a second.  
Laughing coldly, I crossed my legs. “I implied that she was on the second floor. There is a difference, it’s weather or not you want to take the hint that matters. Oh, and I think you might want to retrieve your friend Artemis Fowl. As far as I can see he’s currently relaxing in my orchard with his Butler and I happen to know that there is a hornet’s nest about… 100 yards from where he is sitting.”  
“Is there anything else?”  
I tapped a few commands into my keyboard. “Yes, actually there is. You have precisely twelve hours to get my gold before your friends lives are in danger. After that who knows what could happen?” My voice as I spoke had been silky smooth and emotionless. It was what made me a truly terrifying criminal mastermind when I wanted to be. “One more thing, from one genius to another, I propose a deal. For every part of my plan you guess right, I will give you a gold star. You are currently at 1.”  
“How will get a hold of you if I come up with any ideas?”  
I waved my hand dismissively. “I’ve set the communicator to work both ways. You can reach me if necessary.”  
With that I disconnected the link. The screen went black leaving me alone with Mulch and Charlie.

 

(Mardling Manor- LEP field base)

 

Trouble burst into the room about five seconds after the line had gone dead. Foaly conveyed the human’s message and watched the colour drain out of his commander’s face. A 12 hour deadline wasn’t bad when you took things into perspective, but the fact that they could no longer even see Holly was a disaster. They had no way of knowing if she was even alive.  
The commander ordered men to retrieve Artemis form the orchid.   
The human arrived with a sour expression and a posture suggesting that he shouldn’t be messed with. “I don’t want any part of your plans Trouble.” He snapped as he entered the room- Juliet just behind him.  
“Don’t worry,” the commander said quietly, “Your mud-girl’s just given us a reason to let her live. She’s put a signal dampener on Holly and hidden her somewhere in the building, possibly the second floor. We’ve now got a twelve hour deadline and Mulch is in the same position that Holly was. The only difference is that he’s not bound by magic to do as the human says.”  
Artemis nodded reluctantly. “Tell me everything that’s happened since I left…” He listened intently to the story, right up to the part where Holly was injured. “Are you sure she was knocked out?”  
“Like a light.” Foaly confirmed sadly.  
The human genius sat forward. “I know where Holly is being kept, but we have to forget about her for the time being and just focus on retrieving Mulch. Rene probably doesn’t have much control over Holly’s fate now anyway. She’s out of our hands.” he announced ironing a few creases out of his trousers. “I have a plan but it won’t work unless you are willing to break a few rules.”  
Kelp stiffened. “What rules?”  
Artemis smiled; it was his famous vampire smile that hadn’t been seen for years. On his older face it looked even more chilling than before- less spawn of Dracula, more father of darkness. “Oh, you’ll see.”

(Mardling Manor- control room)

Now that I had a few hours alone with mulch I took the time to give him my proposal. At first he seemed unsure, but the podgy dwarf eventually came round.  
If he behaved and did as I said, I would give him something he desperately wanted- something no one else could give. It was a thing that had haunted his dreams for many a decade and craved in every nightmare. With it he might finally be able to class his life as complete again.

It had only been an hour but already my end of the communicator was buzzing. I picked it up and answered with a press of the button. What on earth could they want so soon? “This is Rene.”  
“Twelve hours is a bit much for a deadline, wouldn’t you say?” It was fowl at the other end.  
I smiled knowing he’d hear it in my voice, “It’s just the right amount. It gives you all time to think it over, and then, it gives me six whole hours to have my fun with you if you refuse to pay the ransom- which I might add has not changed. It’s still half a ton of fairy gold.”  
They must have had it on load speaker because Trouble but in, “It’s gonna take time to get the gold you dir…”  
“What he’s saying,” Artemis took back the conversation, no doubt giving the commander a dirty look, “is that the gold is on its way here. Now, there is something I wanted to discus with you.”  
Ok, that was interesting. “What would that be?”  
“A trade: myself for information. You give us information and you will get me in return.”  
I actually dropped the communicator. How did Fowl get them to agree with that? He was there one good strategist and I was pretty sure that Juliet wouldn’t have been too happy with the decision. If I chose to accept, it could throw my entire plan out of the window and it wasn’t just my life on the line.

It took me less than a second to bring up a video link.  
They all spun on their heels as they turned to look at me. This was the first time I’d seen Juliet so I studied her intently for a split second. She was maybe in her early 40’s but had aged gracefully. Her blond hair was long and braided and her eyes were the same colour as her brother’s. She had a few smile lines but, other than that, her skin was wrinkled free and in good condition. If I looked like that at her age, I would have been happy.  
“What kind of information?” I asked slowly.  
Foaly, who had been tapping away in the background, cut in cheerfully, “We wanna know that you’re gonna spend the money on.”  
Was that it? What would drive them to give up their only real asset? Unless… They had an ulterior motive. Artemis must have had a plan. He was going to sabotage my plot from the inside. As a veteran of this type of kidnapping he would probably have enough experience to seriously damage my schemes. Having him a round would be distracting at best. It would have been an unwise idea to let him anywhere near my manor.  
I glared at him down the link and he smirked back. For him it wasn’t about saving Holly anymore- he knew she was safe for the time being. It was now a battle of intellects. It was the Analyst vs. the Techy. The winner would walk away with the money and the hostages. If he won, I would either be killed or have my mind wiped until I couldn’t even remember my own name, but if I won, I would be left with the gold and a reputation for beating the notorious Artemis Fowl. Was it really worth it? My brain was screaming at me to decline, but deep down my competitive instincts were urging me forward, begging me to accept.  
I rubbed my temples thoughtfully. This wasn’t about the money. The only thing that mattered was my true motives; if I could keep them to myself than this little plan might just work, even with Artemis looking over my shoulder.  
“Tick-tock,” Foaly murmured under his breath.  
“Fine,” I said reluctantly making my voice sound enthusiastic, “You have yourself a deal…”


	14. Chapter 14

(Mardling Manor- LEP control room)

As Artemis got ready to leave Juliet mumbled something under her breath. I guessed it was something like, “I still think this is a bad idea.” Or, “Can we please just think about this?”  
Even though his Butler was unsure about his plan, Artemis didn’t seem fazed. “I’ll be there in ten minutes. You should be able to see it on your cameras, yes?”  
“Correct.”  
They said muted goodbyes before he left the guest house and made his way to me.  
I waited patiently until I saw him immerge from under the trees and step out onto the grass.  
When Artemis was in place, Foaly looked up. “Get on with it then mud-girl we’re not getting any younger out here, you know?”  
I rolled my eyes- I really wish I would stop doing that- and began in my best ‘once upon a time voice’. On the screen I brought up blueprints that I was sure only Foaly would enjoy looking at. “This is what the money will go towards ladies and gentlemen.” I paused for a second to let them look at the plans.  
Foaly’s eyes widened. “This… this is… Wow.”  
“What?” Kelp grumbled pushing him out of the way to get a better look at the screen.  
“You asked to know what your money would go towards. This is it. Satisfied?”  
Foaly almost tripped over his own hooves. “Dude, if I had the money I would fund this myself. How on earth did you even think up this idea? Girl, you’re a whole lot more complicated than Trouble here. I doubt he could confuse a fruit fly.”  
“Explain the blueprints Foaly, now!” Yelled Trouble angrily, “I don’t know what these plans show but I forbid you spending a single penny- and say anything of that sort again and I’ll cut your budget in half.”  
“You know you like it.” He snorted.   
I chuckled darkly. “I’ll let you enlighten them Foaly. You’ll probably enjoy it more.”  
He nodded.  
“Well it has been a pleasure doing business with you. If you’ll excuse me, I have a guest to meet.” I terminated the feed and turned to Mulch. “Stay here.”

Artemis waited patiently by my open front door as I approached. He seemed more relaxed than he had earlier. His palms were open and his shoulders low. A small smile spread across his face when he saw me approaching, but the uncertainty at the corner of his lips gave away his nerves.  
“Welcome again to my humble abode Mr Fowl. May I go against tradition and state that I certainly was not expecting you?” I purred humorously.   
He chuckled, “I’m guessing that your plans have changed since this deal was made?”  
It was my turn to laugh. “Oh, no Mr Fowl…”  
“Artemis, please.”  
“…added to them certainly but not changed them. I’m afraid to say that my plan remains very much the same. There is not much that could change that.” I snorted confidently. Did he really believe that my strategies could be upturned by a single move?  
He lent against the doorframe thoughtfully, “I wonder what could?”  
I smiled and shrugged. “Winning a Darwin award?”  
“That would be unfortunate.” Artemis said with an air of seriousness creeping into his tone. He looked round. “Will we be going somewhere more secure? I’m sure you won’t take the same chances with me as you have with Holly. You can’t risk losing Mulch or myself in a similar manor.”  
“Don’t worry; you’ll be safe- safe and far away from my control room. You won’t be getting anywhere near it.” He didn’t have anything to say to that, so I continued, “When inside my home you will be courteous to both Gladice and Charlie. If you are unable to understand Charlie, simply ask for a translation and I will provide.”  
He nodded so I led the way down the hall to a panic room in the opposite end of the manor. It was a cylindrical room with thick concrete walls and cheerful wallpaper that Saskia had chosen against my wishes. Along one side a bank of computer monitors stretched out, and along the other there was a sofa and a mini-fridge. Artemis went straight over and sat down amongst the cushions.  
He seemed content to just sit there while I went over and remote activated the monitors with my contacts. After a while I noticed a strange look he’d begun displaying.  
“What is it?” I asked cautiously.  
He paused, choosing the words carefully, “…Foaly’s given me the full rundown of you back story but I wanna hear it from you, personally. What exactly was it that turned you to the dark side? It certainly wasn’t the cookies. With your training I would have expected you and your Butler to be protecting my brothers and I.”  
There it was, straight to the point. There wasn’t any doubt that he would try to manipulate me, but, then again, maybe it was just a genuine question. There was no way of telling with those stony eyes.  
Either way, it was a good way to spend the time we’d been unexpectantly given…  
Sitting down in my office chair I faced him slowly, starting at the beginning. “My father was a wealthy businessman. He built an empire in the technology market by selling outdated tech after the crash 12 years ago. Three years ago he handed me the reins but, at the time, he didn’t realise that the company was on the verge of collapse. I sold it for a price and watched as it tumbled down around its new owner. Of course it was then that I realised: It’s better to be judged by twelve than carried by six. You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain… But you would know all about that wouldn’t you Artemis?”  
He stiffened. Death was probably not at the top of his list of hot topics.   
“My father told me all about your family. I must say that you were one of my inspirations for my choice of career.” I admitted in a not unkind tone.   
From the sofa he sighed, “I can tell.”  
“There is a difference between inspiration and re-enactment, when you figure out which the current situation involves, it will make my intentions clearer.”  
Artemis thought about that for a second. “You have a Butler. Where is she?”  
“Surely you of all people should know that. Saskia is at her aunt’s funeral. She will not be returning for a few days and I didn’t trouble her with my plans.”  
“You know her first name?”  
I rolled my eyes. “I trained with her at Madam Ko’s academy. We were practically brought up together as her parents worked closely with mine for a time, so of course I know her first name!”  
“Understandable.”  
Glancing at the monitors something caught my eye. A lone LEP officer was snooping maybe a little too close for my liking. "Gladice make a note of him."  
She sighed, "I make a note of everything."  
"Make a special note of him." I snapped back sarcastically.  
"I'll underline him."  
"Good."  
"I'll change his colour too if you like."  
"That won't be necessary."  
"You sure, I could put him in bold as well..."  
"Be quiet."  
"Yes Ma'am."  
Artemis tittered quietly to himself. “She really is a marvellous creation.”  
“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.” I concluded humorously. I really should have cut back on the jokes. I was a criminal, not a comedian.

“M”  
“What?” I blinked, closing the stats screen that had been scrolling across my focus.  
Artemis sat back. “Moriarty, how well do you know him?”  
“Why do you want to know?” frowning I also sat back, mimicking his pose, “I can tell you what music he listens to when he’s on the phone. I can tell you what he’s like when he’s mad. I can tell you what he’s like when he gets his own way. I can even tell you what he’s like when I don’t let him get his own way.” There was a pause before I continued. “I can tell you all these things Artemis- about Moriarty, about my life- but there’s always that underlying question. What are you asking?”  
He didn’t seem to be able to answer at first. His eyebrows raised a fraction as he considered his reply. Maybe all those years of peace really had dulled his senses?  
When he eventually spoke he seemed hesitant, “I want to know why you’re not dead yet; three years and yet not a single text. Why?”  
My hand unconsciously went to my phone and the message that still waited there. If it wasn’t for the present situation, I would have been nose deep in another game of life or death with a much more dangerous opponent… Of course he couldn’t know that.   
Pulling a hollow smile to my lips I shook my head. “I’ve been useful in a way that none of his other contacts have been previously. My technology and advances make me irreplaceable to him and he knows this.” Ok, maybe not that irreplaceable… I thought looking at the screen of my phone again.  
“Something wrong?” Artemis asked, picking up on my change in mood and in behaviour.  
With the smallest of shivers I forced my problems down and drew the full weight of my consciousness back to the Fowl before me- just in time to see his eyes dart to the screen behind me.

The lone LEP officer had found a friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Got this story from a fried of mine. She allowed me to re-write it and continue on from the first three chapter she wrote... This is also posed on deviant art, my url is the same on there too so you should be able to find it easy if you wanted to.
> 
> Sorry about any spelling/grammar mistakes, but I'm dyslexic as fuck. (yes I really am dyslexic)


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